At the Earth's Core .............................................................................................................................................1

Edgar Rice Burroughs ..............................................................................................................................1

IN THE FIRST PLACE PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT I do not expect you to believe this story. Nor

could you wonder had you witnessed a recent experience of mine when, in the armor of blissful and

stupendous ignorance, I gaily narrated the gist of it to a Fellow of the Royal Geological Society on the

You would surely have thought that I had been detected in no less a heinous crime than the purloining of the

Crown Jewels from the Tower, or putting poison in the coffee of His Majesty the King.

The erudite gentleman in whom I confided congealed before I was half through!it is all that saved him

from explodingand my dreams of an Honorary Fellowship, gold medals, and a niche in the Hall of Fame

But I believe the story, and so would you, and so would the learned Fellow of the Royal Geological Society,

had you and he heard it from the lips of the man who told it to me. Had you seen, as I did, the fire of truth in

those gray eyes; had you felt the ring of sincerity in that quiet voice; had you realized the pathos of it

allyou, too, would believe. You would not have needed the final ocular proof that I hadthe weird

rhamphorhynchuslike creature which he had brought back with him from the inner world.

I came upon him quite suddenly, and no less unexpectedly, upon the rim of the great Sahara Desert. He was

standing before a goatskin tent amidst a clump of date palms within a tiny oasis. Close by was an Arab

I had come down from the north to hunt lion. My party consisted of a dozen children of the desertI was the

only "white" man. As we approached the little clump of verdure I saw the man come from his tent and with

handshaded eyes peer intently at us. At sight of me he advanced rapidly to meet us.

"A white man!" he cried. "May the good Lord be praised! I have been watching you for hours, hoping against

hope that THIS time there would be a white man. Tell me the date. What year is it?"

And when I had told him he staggered as though he had been struck full in the face, so that he was compelled

"It cannot be!" he cried after a moment. "It cannot be! Tell me that you are mistaken, or that you are but

"I am telling you the truth, my friend," I replied. "Why should I deceive a stranger, or attempt to, in so simple

"Ten years!" he murmured, at last. "Ten years, and I thought that at the most it could be scarce more than

one!" That night he told me his storythe story that I give you here as nearly in his own words as I can

I WAS BORN IN CONNECTICUT ABOUT THIRTY YEARS ago. My name is David Innes. My father was

a wealthy mine owner. When I was nineteen he died. All his property was to be mine when I had attained my

majorityprovided that I had devoted the two years intervening in close application to the great business I

I did my best to fulfil the last wishes of my parent not because of the inheritance, but because I loved and

honored my father. For six months I toiled in the mines and in the countingrooms, for I wished to know

Then Perry interested me in his invention. He was an old fellow who had devoted the better part of a long life

to the perfection of a mechanical subterranean prospector. As relaxation he studied paleontology. I looked

over his plans, listened to his arguments, inspected his working modeland then, convinced, I advanced the

I shall not go into the details of its constructionit lies out there in the desert nowabout two miles from

here. Tomorrow you may care to ride out and see it. Roughly, it is a steel cylinder a hundred feet long, and

jointed so that it may turn and twist through solid rock if need be. At one end is a mighty revolving drill

operated by an engine which Perry said generated more power to the cubic inch than any other engine did to

the cubic foot. I remember that he used to claim that that invention alone would make us fabulously

wealthywe were going to make the whole thing public after the successful issue of our first secret

I recall as it were but yesterday the night of that momentous occasion upon which we were to test the

practicality of that wondrous invention. It was near midnight when we repaired to the lofty tower in which

Perry had constructed his "iron mole" as he was wont to call the thing. The great nose rested upon the bare

earth of the floor. We passed through the doors into the outer jacket, secured them, and then passing on into

the cabin, which contained the controlling mechanism within the inner tube, switched on the electric lights.

Perry looked to his generator; to the great tanks that held the lifegiving chemicals with which he was to

manufacture fresh air to replace that which we consumed in breathing; to his instruments for recording

temperatures, speed, distance, and for examining the materials through which we were to pass.

He tested the steering device, and overlooked the mighty cogs which transmitted its marvelous velocity to the

Our seats, into which we strapped ourselves, were so arranged upon transverse bars that we would be upright

whether the craft were ploughing her way downward into the bowels of the earth, or running horizontally

At length all was ready. Perry bowed his head in prayer. For a moment we were silent, and then the old man's

hand grasped the starting lever. There was a frightful roaring beneath usthe giant frame trembled and

vibratedthere was a rush of sound as the loose earth passed up through the hollow space between the inner

The noise was deafening. The sensation was frightful. For a full minute neither of us could do aught but cling

with the proverbial desperation of the drowning man to the handrails of our swinging seats. Then Perry

"Gad!" he cried, "it cannot be possiblequick! What does the distance meter read?"

That and the speedometer were both on my side of the cabin, and as I turned to take a reading from the

"Ten degrees riseit cannot be possible!" and then I saw him tug frantically upon the steering wheel.

As I finally found the tiny needle in the dim light I translated Perry's evident excitement, and my heart sank

within me. But when I spoke I hid the fear which haunted me. "It will be seven hundred feet, Perry," I said,

"You'd better lend me a hand then, my boy," he replied, "for I cannot budge her out of the vertical alone. God

give that our combined strength may be equal to the task, for else we are lost."

I wormed my way to the old man's side with never a doubt but that the great wheel would yield on the instant

to the power of my young and vigorous muscles. Nor was my belief mere vanity, for always had my physique

been the envy and despair of my fellows. And for that very reason it had waxed even greater than nature had

intended, since my natural pride in my great strength had led me to care for and develop my body and my

muscles by every means within my power. What with boxing, football, and baseball, I had been in training

And so it was with the utmost confidence that I laid hold of the huge iron rim; but though I threw every ounce

of my strength into it, my best effort was as unavailing as Perry's had beenthe thing would not budgethe

grim, insensate, horrible thing that was holding us upon the straight road to death!

At length I gave up the useless struggle, and without a word returned to my seat. There was no need for

wordsat least none that I could imagine, unless Perry desired to pray. And I was quite sure that he would,

for he never left an opportunity neglected where he might sandwich in a prayer. He prayed when he arose in

the morning, he prayed before he ate, he prayed when he had finished eating, and before he went to bed at

night he prayed again. In between he often found excuses to pray even when the provocation seemed

farfetched to my worldly eyesnow that he was about to die I felt positive that I should witness a perfect

But to my astonishment I discovered that with death staring him in the face Abner Perry was transformed into

a new being. From his lips there flowednot prayerbut a clear and limpid stream of undiluted profanity,

"I should think, Perry," I chided, "that a man of your professed religiousness would rather be at his prayers

"Death!" he cried. "Death is it that appalls you? That is nothing by comparison with the loss the world must

suffer. Why, David within this iron cylinder we have demonstrated possibilities that science has scarce

dreamed. We have harnessed a new principle, and with it animated a piece of steel with the power of ten

thousand men. That two lives will be snuffed out is nothing to the world calamity that entombs in the bowels

of the earth the discoveries that I have made and proved in the successful construction of the thing that is now

I am frank to admit that for myself I was much more concerned with our own immediate future than with any

problematic loss which the world might be about to suffer. The world was at least ignorant of its

"What can we do?" I asked, hiding my perturbation beneath the mask of a low and level voice.

"We may stop here, and die of asphyxiation when our atmosphere tanks are empty," replied Perry, "or we

may continue on with the slight hope that we may later sufficiently deflect the prospector from the vertical to

carry us along the arc of a great circle which must eventually return us to the surface. If we succeed in so

doing before we reach the higher internal temperature we may even yet survive. There would seem to me to

be about one chance in several million that we shall succeedotherwise we shall die more quickly but no

more surely than as though we sat supinely waiting for the torture of a slow and horrible death."

I glanced at the thermometer. It registered 110 degrees. While we were talking the mighty iron mole had

"Let us continue on, then," I replied. "It should soon be over at this rate. You never intimated that the speed

"No," he answered. "I could not figure the speed exactly, for I had no instrument for measuring the mighty

power of my generator. I reasoned, however, that we should make about five hundred yards an hour."

"And we are making seven miles an hour," I concluded for him, as I sat with my eyes upon the distance

"There are almost as many conjectures as to that as there are geologists," was his answer. "One estimates it

thirty miles, because the internal heat, increasing at the rate of about one degree to each sixty to seventy feet

depth, would be sufficient to fuse the most refractory substances at that distance beneath the surface. Another

finds that the phenomena of precession and nutation require that the earth, if not entirely solid, must at least

have a shell not less than eight hundred to a thousand miles in thickness. So there you are. You may take your

"It will be all the same to us in the end, David," replied Perry. "At the best our fuel will suffice to carry us but

three or four days, while our atmosphere cannot last to exceed three. Neither, then, is sufficient to bear us in

"If the crust is of sufficient thickness we shall come to a final stop between six and seven hundred miles

beneath the earth's surface; but during the last hundred and fifty miles of our journey we shall be corpses. Am

"I do not know. It all has come so suddenly that I scarce believe that either of us realizes the real terrors of

our position. I feel that I should be reduced to panic; but yet I am not. I imagine that the shock has been so

Again I turned to the thermometer. The mercury was rising with less rapidity. It was now but 140 degrees,

although we had penetrated to a depth of nearly four miles. I told Perry, and he smiled.

"We have shattered one theory at least," was his only comment, and then he returned to his selfassumed

occupation of fluently cursing the steering wheel. I once heard a pirate swear, but his best efforts would have

seemed like those of a tyro alongside of Perry's masterful and scientific imprecations.

Once more I tried my hand at the wheel, but I might as well have essayed to swing the earth itself. At my

suggestion Perry stopped the generator, and as we came to rest I again threw all my strength into a supreme

effort to move the thing even a hair's breadthbut the results were as barren as when we had been traveling

I shook my head sadly, and motioned to the starting lever. Perry pulled it toward him, and once again we

were plunging downward toward eternity at the rate of seven miles an hour. I sat with my eyes glued to the

thermometer and the distance meter. The mercury was rising very slowly now, though even at 145 degrees it

About noon, or twelve hours after our start upon this unfortunate journey, we had bored to a depth of

Perry was becoming more hopeful, although upon what meager food he sustained his optimism I could not

conjecture. From cursing he had turned to singingI felt that the strain had at last affected his mind. For

several hours we had not spoken except as he asked me for the readings of the instruments from time to time,

and I announced them. My thoughts were filled with vain regrets. I recalled numerous acts of my past life

which I should have been glad to have had a few more years to live down. There was the affair in the Latin

Commons at Andover when Calhoun and I had put gunpowder in the stoveand nearly killed one of the

masters. And thenbut what was the use, I was about to die and atone for all these things and several more.

Already the heat was sufficient to give me a foretaste of the hereafter. A few more degrees and I felt that I

"What are the readings now, David?" Perry's voice broke in upon my somber reflections.

"Gad, but we've knocked that thirtymilecrust theory into a cocked hat!" he cried gleefully.

"But my boy," he continued, "doesn't that temperature reading mean anything to you? Why it hasn't gone up

"Yes, I'm thinking of it," I answered; "but what difference will it make when our air supply is exhausted

whether the temperature is 153 degrees or 153,000? We'll be just as dead, and no one will know the

difference, anyhow." But I must admit that for some unaccountable reason the stationary temperature did

renew my waning hope. What I hoped for I could not have explained, nor did I try. The very fact, as Perry

took pains to explain, of the blasting of several very exact and learned scientific hypotheses made it apparent

that we could not know what lay before us within the bowels of the earth, and so we might continue to hope

for the best, at least until we were deadwhen hope would no longer be essential to our happiness. It was

At one hundred miles the temperature had DROPPED TO 152 1/2 DEGREES! When I announced it Perry

From then on until noon of the second day, it continued to drop until it became as uncomfortably cold as it

had been unbearably hot before. At the depth of two hundred and forty miles our nostrils were assailed by

almost overpowering ammonia fumes, and the temperature had dropped to TEN BELOW ZERO! We

suffered nearly two hours of this intense and bitter cold, until at about two hundred and fortyfive miles from

the surface of the earth we entered a stratum of solid ice, when the mercury quickly rose to 32 degrees.

During the next three hours we passed through ten miles of ice, eventually emerging into another series of

ammoniaimpregnated strata, where the mercury again fell to ten degrees below zero.

Slowly it rose once more until we were convinced that at last we were nearing the molten interior of the earth.

At four hundred miles the temperature had reached 153 degrees. Feverishly I watched the thermometer.

Our hopes had received such a deathblow that the gradually increasing heat seemed to our distorted

imaginations much greater than it really was. For another hour I saw that pitiless column of mercury rise and

rise until at four hundred and ten miles it stood at 153 degrees. Now it was that we began to hang upon those

One hundred and fiftythree degrees had been the maximum temperature above the ice stratum. Would it

stop at this point again, or would it continue its merciless climb? We knew that there was no hope, and yet

with the persistence of life itself we continued to hope against practical certainty.

Already the air tanks were at low ebbthere was barely enough of the precious gases to sustain us for

another twelve hours. But would we be alive to know or care? It seemed incredible.

"Perry!" I shouted. "Perry, man! She's going down! She's going down! She's 152 degrees again."

"I do not know, Perry," I answered; "but thank God, if I am to die it shall not be by firethat is all that I

Down, down went the mercury until it stood as low as it had seven miles from the surface of the earth, and

then of a sudden the realization broke upon us that death was very near. Perry was the first to discover it. I

saw him fussing with the valves that regulate the air supply. And at the same time I experienced difficulty in

I saw Perry crumple in his seat. He gave himself a shake and sat erect again. Then he turned toward me.

"Goodbye, David," he said. "I guess this is the end," and then he smiled and closed his eyes.

"Goodbye, Perry, and good luck to you," I answered, smiling back at him. But I fought off that awful

For an hour I battled against the cruelly enveloping death that surrounded me upon all sides. At first I found

that by climbing high into the framework above me I could find more of the precious lifegiving elements,

and for a while these sustained me. It must have been an hour after Perry had succumbed that I at last came to

the realization that I could no longer carry on this unequal struggle against the inevitable.

With my last flickering ray of consciousness I turned mechanically toward the distance meter. It stood at

exactly five hundred miles from the earth's surfaceand then of a sudden the huge thing that bore us came to

a stop. The rattle of hurtling rock through the hollow jacket ceased. The wild racing of the giant drill

betokened that it was running loose in AIRand then another truth flashed upon me. The point of the

prospector was ABOVE us. Slowly it dawned on me that since passing through the ice strata it had been

above. We had turned in the ice and sped upward toward the earth's crust. Thank God! We were safe!

I put my nose to the intake pipe through which samples were to have been taken during the passage of the

prospector through the earth, and my fondest hopes were realizeda flood of fresh air was pouring into the

iron cabin. The reaction left me in a state of collapse, and I lost consciousness.

crossbeam to which I had been clinging, and fell with a crash to the floor of the cabin, the shock brought me

My first concern was with Perry. I was horrified at the thought that upon the very threshold of salvation he

might be dead. Tearing open his shirt I placed my ear to his breast. I could have cried with reliefhis heart

At the water tank I wetted my handkerchief, slapping it smartly across his forehead and face several times. In

a moment I was rewarded by the raising of his lids. For a time he lay wideeyed and quite uncomprehending.

Then his scattered wits slowly foregathered, and he sat up sniffing the air with an expression of wonderment

"Why, David," he cried at last, "it's air, as sure as I live. Whywhy what does it mean? Where in the world

"It means that we're back at the surface all right, Perry," I cried; "but where, I don't know. I haven't opened

"You say we're back at the surface, David? How can that be? How long have I been unconscious?"

"Not long. We turned in the ice stratum. Don't you recall the sudden whirling of our seats? After that the drill

was above you instead of below. We didn't notice it at the time; but I recall it now."

"You mean to say that we turned back in the ice stratum, David? That is not possible. The prospector cannot

turn unless its nose is deflected from the outsideby some external force or resistancethe steering wheel

within would have moved in response. The steering wheel has not budged, David, since we started. You

I did know it; but here we were with our drill racing in pure air, and copious volumes of it pouring into the

"We couldn't have turned in the ice stratum, Perry, I know as well as you," I replied; "but the fact remains

that we did, for here we are this minute at the surface of the earth again, and I am going out to see just

"Half after twelve. We have been out seventytwo hours, so it must be midnight. Nevertheless I am going to

have a look at the blessed sky that I had given up all hope of ever seeing again," and so saying I lifted the

bars from the inner door, and swung it open. There was quite a quantity of loose material in the jacket, and

this I had to remove with a shovel to get at the opposite door in the outer shell.

In a short time I had removed enough of the earth and rock to the floor of the cabin to expose the door

beyond. Perry was directly behind me as I threw it open. The upper half was above the surface of the ground.

With an expression of surprise I turned and looked at Perryit was broad daylight without!

"Something seems to have gone wrong either with our calculations or the chronometer," I said. Perry shook

Together we stepped out to stand in silent contemplation of a landscape at once weird and beautiful. Before

us a low and level shore stretched down to a silent sea. As far as the eye could reach the surface of the water

was dotted with countless tiny islessome of towering, barren, granitic rockothers resplendent in

gorgeous trappings of tropical vegetation, myriad starred with the magnificent splendor of vivid blooms.

Behind us rose a dark and forbidding wood of giant arborescent ferns intermingled with the commoner types

of a primeval tropical forest. Huge creepers depended in great loops from tree to tree, dense underbrush

overgrew a tangled mass of fallen trunks and branches. Upon the outer verge we could see the same splendid

coloring of countless blossoms that glorified the islands, but within the dense shadows all seemed dark and

For some moments the old man did not reply. He stood with bowed head, buried in deep thought. But at last

"What do you mean Perry?" I cried. "Do you think that we are dead, and this is heaven?" He smiled, and

turning, pointing to the nose of the prospector protruding from the ground at our backs.

"But for that, David, I might believe that we were indeed come to the country beyond the Styx. The

prospector renders that theory untenableit, certainly, could never have gone to heaven. However I am

willing to concede that we actually may be in another world from that which we have always known. If we

"We may have quartered through the earth's crust and come out upon some tropical island of the West

"Let us wait and see, David," he replied, "and in the meantime suppose we do a bit of exploring up and down

As we walked along the beach Perry gazed long and earnestly across the water. Evidently he was wrestling

"David," he said abruptly, "do you perceive anything unusual about the horizon?"

As I looked I began to appreciate the reason for the strangeness of the landscape that had haunted me from

the first with an illusive suggestion of the bizarre and unnaturalTHERE WAS NO HORIZON! As far as

the eye could reach out the sea continued and upon its bosom floated tiny islands, those in the distance

reduced to mere specks; but ever beyond them was the sea, until the impression became quite real that one

was LOOKING UP at the most distant point that the eyes could fathomthe distance was lost in the

distance. That was allthere was no clearcut horizontal line marking the dip of the globe below the line of

"A great light is commencing to break on me," continued Perry, taking out his watch. "I believe that I have

partially solved the riddle. It is now two o'clock. When we emerged from the prospector the sun was directly

I glanced up to find the great orb still motionless in the center of the heaven. And such a sun! I had scarcely

noticed it before. Fully thrice the size of the sun I had known throughout my life, and apparently so near that

the sight of it carried the conviction that one might almost reach up and touch it.

"My God, Perry, where are we?" I exclaimed. "This thing is beginning to get on my nerves."

"I think that I may state quite positively, David," he commenced, "that we are" but he got no further. From

behind us in the vicinity of the prospector there came the most thunderous, aweinspiring roar that ever had

fallen upon my ears. With one accord we turned to discover the author of that fearsome noise.

Had I still retained the suspicion that we were on earth the sight that met my eyes would quite entirely have

banished it. Emerging from the forest was a colossal beast which closely resembled a bear. It was fully as

large as the largest elephant and with great forepaws armed with huge claws. Its nose, or snout, depended

nearly a foot below its lower jaw, much after the manner of a rudimentary trunk. The giant body was covered

Roaring horribly it came toward us at a ponderous, shuffling trot. I turned to Perry to suggest that it might be

wise to seek other surroundingsthe idea had evidently occurred to Perry previously, for he was already a

hundred paces away, and with each second his prodigious bounds increased the distance. I had never guessed

I saw that he was headed toward a little point of the forest which ran out toward the sea not far from where

we had been standing, and as the mighty creature, the sight of which had galvanized him into such

remarkable action, was forging steadily toward me. I set off after Perry, though at a somewhat more decorous

pace. It was evident that the massive beast pursuing us was not built for speed, so all that I considered

necessary was to gain the trees sufficiently ahead of it to enable me to climb to the safety of some great

Notwithstanding our danger I could not help but laugh at Perry's frantic capers as he essayed to gain the

safety of the lower branches of the trees he now had reached. The stems were bare for a distance of some

fifteen feetat least on those trees which Perry attempted to ascend, for the suggestion of safety carried by

the larger of the forest giants had evidently attracted him to them. A dozen times he scrambled up the trunks

like a huge cat only to fall back to the ground once more, and with each failure he cast a horrified glance over

his shoulder at the oncoming brute, simultaneously emitting terrorstricken shrieks that awoke the echoes of

At length he spied a dangling creeper about the bigness of one's wrist, and when I reached the trees he was

racing madly up it, hand over hand. He had almost reached the lowest branch of the tree from which the

creeper depended when the thing parted beneath his weight and he fell sprawling at my feet.

The misfortune now was no longer amusing, for the beast was already too close to us for comfort. Seizing

Perry by the shoulder I dragged him to his feet, and rushing to a smaller treeone that he could easily

encircle with his arms and legsI boosted him as far up as I could, and then left him to his fate, for a glance

It was the great size of the thing alone that saved me. Its enormous bulk rendered it too slow upon its feet to

cope with the agility of my young muscles, and so I was enabled to dodge out of its way and run completely

The few seconds of grace that this gave me found me safely lodged in the branches of a tree a few paces from

Did I say safely lodged? At the time I thought we were quite safe, and so did Perry. He was prayingraising

his voice in thanksgiving at our deliveranceand had just completed a sort of paeon of gratitude that the

thing couldn't climb a tree when without warning it reared up beneath him on its enormous tail and hind feet,

and reached those fearfully armed paws quite to the branch upon which he crouched.

The accompanying roar was all but drowned in Perry's scream of fright, and he came near tumbling headlong

into the gaping jaws beneath him, so precipitate was his impetuous haste to vacate the dangerous limb. It was

And then the brute did that which froze us both anew with horror. Grasping the tree's stem with his powerful

paws he dragged down with all the great weight of his huge bulk and all the irresistible force of those mighty

muscles. Slowly, but surely, the stem began to bend toward him. Inch by inch he worked his paws upward as

the tree leaned more and more from the perpendicular. Perry clung chattering in a panic of terror. Higher and

higher into the bending and swaying tree he clambered. More and more rapidly was the tree top inclining

I saw now why the great brute was armed with such enormous paws. The use that he was putting them to was

precisely that for which nature had intended them. The slothlike creature was herbivorous, and to feed that

mighty carcass entire trees must be stripped of their foliage. The reason for its attacking us might easily be

accounted for on the supposition of an ugly disposition such as that which the fierce and stupid rhinoceros of

Africa possesses. But these were later reflections. At the moment I was too frantic with apprehension on

Perry's behalf to consider aught other than a means to save him from the death that loomed so close.

Realizing that I could outdistance the clumsy brute in the open, I dropped from my leafy sanctuary intent only

on distracting the thing's attention from Perry long enough to enable the old man to gain the safety of a larger

tree. There were many close by which not even the terrific strength of that titanic monster could bend.

As I touched the ground I snatched a broken limb from the tangled mass that matted the junglelike floor of

the forest and, leaping unnoticed behind the shaggy back, dealt the brute a terrific blow. My plan worked like

magic. From the previous slowness of the beast I had been led to look for no such marvelous agility as he

now displayed. Releasing his hold upon the tree he dropped on all fours and at the same time swung his great,

wicked tail with a force that would have broken every bone in my body had it struck me; but, fortunately, I

had turned to flee at the very instant that I felt my blow land upon the towering back.

As it started in pursuit of me I made the mistake of running along the edge of the forest rather than making

for the open beach. In a moment I was kneedeep in rotting vegetation, and the awful thing behind me was

A fallen log gave me an instant's advantage, for climbing upon it I leaped to another a few paces farther on,

and in this way was able to keep clear of the mush that carpeted the surrounding ground. But the zigzag

course that this necessitated was placing such a heavy handicap upon me that my pursuer was steadily

Suddenly from behind I heard a tumult of howls, and sharp, piercing barksmuch the sound that a pack of

wolves raises when in full cry. Involuntarily I glanced backward to discover the origin of this new and

menacing note with the result that I missed my footing and went sprawling once more upon my face in the

My mammoth enemy was so close by this time that I knew I must feel the weight of one of his terrible paws

before I could rise, but to my surprise the blow did not fall upon me. The howling and snapping and barking

of the new element which had been infused into the melee now seemed centered quite close behind me, and

as I raised myself upon my hands and glanced around I saw what it was that had distracted the DYRYTH, as

It was surrounded by a pack of some hundred wolflike creatureswild dogs they seemedthat rushed

growling and snapping in upon it from all sides, so that they sank their white fangs into the slow brute and

But these were not all that my startled eyes perceived. Chattering and gibbering through the lower branches

of the trees came a company of manlike creatures evidently urging on the dog pack. They were to all

appearances strikingly similar in aspect to the Negro of Africa. Their skins were very black, and their features

much like those of the more pronounced Negroid type except that the head receded more rapidly above the

eyes, leaving little or no forehead. Their arms were rather longer and their legs shorter in proportion to the

torso than in man, and later I noticed that their great toes protruded at right angles from their feetbecause

of their arboreal habits, I presume. Behind them trailed long, slender tails which they used in climbing quite

I had stumbled to my feet the moment that I discovered that the wolfdogs were holding the dyryth at bay. At

sight of me several of the savage creatures left off worrying the great brute to come slinking with bared fangs

toward me, and as I turned to run toward the trees again to seek safety among the lower branches, I saw a

number of the manapes leaping and chattering in the foliage of the nearest tree.

Between them and the beasts behind me there was little choice, but at least there was a doubt as to the

reception these grotesque parodies on humanity would accord me, while there was none as to the fate which

And so I raced on toward the trees intending to pass beneath that which held the manthings and take refuge

in another farther on; but the wolfdogs were very close behind meso close that I had despaired of

escaping them, when one of the creatures in the tree above swung down headforemost, his tail looped about a

great limb, and grasping me beneath my armpits swung me in safety up among his fellows.

There they fell to examining me with the utmost excitement and curiosity. They picked at my clothing, my

hair, and my flesh. They turned me about to see if I had a tail, and when they discovered that I was not so

equipped they fell into roars of laughter. Their teeth were very large and white and even, except for the upper

canines which were a trifle longer than the othersprotruding just a bit when the mouth was closed.

When they had examined me for a few moments one of them discovered that my clothing was not a part of

me, with the result that garment by garment they tore it from me amidst peals of the wildest laughter.

Apelike, they essayed to don the apparel themselves, but their ingenuity was not sufficient to the task and so

In the meantime I had been straining my eyes to catch a glimpse of Perry, but nowhere about could I see him,

although the clump of trees in which he had first taken refuge was in full view. I was much exercised by fear

that something had befallen him, and though I called his name aloud several times there was no response.

Tired at last of playing with my clothing the creatures threw it to the ground, and catching me, one on either

side, by an arm, started off at a most terrifying pace through the tree tops. Never have I experienced such a

journey before or sinceeven now I oftentimes awake from a deep sleep haunted by the horrid remembrance

From tree to tree the agile creatures sprang like flying squirrels, while the cold sweat stood upon my brow as

I glimpsed the depths beneath, into which a single misstep on the part of either of my bearers would hurl me.

As they bore me along, my mind was occupied with a thousand bewildering thoughts. What had become of

Perry? Would I ever see him again? What were the intentions of these halfhuman things into whose hands I

had fallen? Were they inhabitants of the same world into which I had been born? No! It could not be. But yet

where else? I had not left that earthof that I was sure. Still neither could I reconcile the things which I had

seen to a belief that I was still in the world of my birth. With a sigh I gave it up.

WE MUST HAVE TRAVELED SEVERAL MILES THROUGH the dark and dismal wood when we came

suddenly upon a dense village built high among the branches of the trees. As we approached it my escort

broke into wild shouting which was immediately answered from within, and a moment later a swarm of

creatures of the same strange race as those who had captured me poured out to meet us. Again I was the

center of a wildly chattering horde. I was pulled this way and that. Pinched, pounded, and thumped until I

was black and blue, yet I do not think that their treatment was dictated by either cruelty or maliceI was a

curiosity, a freak, a new plaything, and their childish minds required the added evidence of all their senses to

Presently they dragged me within the village, which consisted of several hundred rude shelters of boughs and

Between the huts, which sometimes formed crooked streets, were dead branches and the trunks of small trees

which connected the huts upon one tree to those within adjoining trees; the whole network of huts and

I wondered why these agile creatures required connecting bridges between the trees, but later when I saw the

motley aggregation of halfsavage beasts which they kept within their village I realized the necessity for the

pathways. There were a number of the same vicious wolfdogs which we had left worrying the dyryth, and

many goatlike animals whose distended udders explained the reasons for their presence.

My guard halted before one of the huts into which I was pushed; then two of the creatures squatted down

before the entranceto prevent my escape, doubtless. Though where I should have escaped to I certainly had

not the remotest conception. I had no more than entered the dark shadows of the interior than there fell upon

"David! Can it be possible that you escaped?" And the old man stumbled toward me and threw his arms about

He had seen me fall before the dyryth, and then he had been seized by a number of the apecreatures and

borne through the tree tops to their village. His captors had been as inquisitive as to his strange clothing as

had mine, with the same result. As we looked at each other we could not help but laugh.

"Maybe we can borrow a couple," I rejoined. "They seem to be quite the thing this season. I wonder what the

creatures intend doing with us, Perry. They don't seem really savage. What do you suppose they can be? You

were about to tell me where we are when that great hairy frigate bore down upon ushave you really any

"Yes, David," he replied, "I know precisely where we are. We have made a magnificent discovery, my boy!

We have proved that the earth is hollow. We have passed entirely through its crust to the inner world."

"Not at all, David. For two hundred and fifty miles our prospector bore us through the crust beneath our outer

world. At that point it reached the center of gravity of the fivehundredmilethick crust. Up to that point we

had been descendingdirection is, of course, merely relative. Then at the moment that our seats

revolvedthe thing that made you believe that we had turned about and were speeding upwardwe passed

the center of gravity and, though we did not alter the direction of our progress, yet we were in reality moving

upwardtoward the surface of the inner world. Does not the strange fauna and flora which we have seen

convince you that you are not in the world of your birth? And the horizoncould it present the strange

aspects which we both noted unless we were indeed standing upon the inside surface of a sphere?"

"But the sun, Perry!" I urged. "How in the world can the sun shine through five hundred miles of solid crust?"

"It is not the sun of the outer world that we see here. It is another sunan entirely different sunthat casts

its eternal noonday effulgence upon the face of the inner world. Look at it now, Davidif you can see it

from the doorway of this hutand you will see that it is still in the exact center of the heavens. We have

"And withal it is very simple, David. The earth was once a nebulous mass. It cooled, and as it cooled it

shrank. At length a thin crust of solid matter formed upon its outer surfacea sort of shell; but within it was

partially molten matter and highly expanded gases. As it continued to cool, what happened? Centrifugal force

hurled the particles of the nebulous center toward the crust as rapidly as they approached a solid state. You

have seen the same principle practically applied in the modern cream separator. Presently there was only a

small superheated core of gaseous matter remaining within a huge vacant interior left by the contraction of

the cooling gases. The equal attraction of the solid crust from all directions maintained this luminous core in

the exact center of the hollow globe. What remains of it is the sun you saw todaya relatively tiny thing at

the exact center of the earth. Equally to every part of this inner world it diffuses its perpetual noonday light

"This inner world must have cooled sufficiently to support animal life long ages after life appeared upon the

outer crust, but that the same agencies were at work here is evident from the similar forms of both animal and

vegetable creation which we have already seen. Take the great beast which attacked us, for example.

Unquestionably a counterpart of the Megatherium of the postPliocene period of the outer crust, whose

"But the grotesque inhabitants of this forest?" I urged. "Surely they have no counterpart in the earth's

"Who can tell?" he rejoined. "They may constitute the link between ape and man, all traces of which have

been swallowed by the countless convulsions which have racked the outer crust, or they may be merely the

Further speculation was interrupted by the appearance of several of our captors before the entrance of the hut.

Two of them entered and dragged us forth. The perilous pathways and the surrounding trees were filled with

the black apemen, their females, and their young. There was not an ornament, a weapon, or a garment

"Quite high enough to play the deuce with us, though," I replied. "Now what do you suppose they intend

We were not long in learning. As on the occasion of our trip to the village we were seized by a couple of the

powerful creatures and whirled away through the tree tops, while about us and in our wake raced a chattering,

Twice my bearers missed their footing, and my heart ceased beating as we plunged toward instant death

among the tangled deadwood beneath. But on both occasions those lithe, powerful tails reached out and

found sustaining branches, nor did either of the creatures loosen their grasp upon me. In fact, it seemed that

the incidents were of no greater moment to them than would be the stubbing of one's toe at a street crossing

For some time they continued through the foresthow long I could not guess for I was learning, what was

later borne very forcefully to my mind, that time ceases to be a factor the moment means for measuring it

cease to exist. Our watches were gone, and we were living beneath a stationary sun. Already I was puzzled to

compute the period of time which had elapsed since we broke through the crust of the inner world. It might

be hours, or it might be dayswho in the world could tell where it was always noon! By the sun, no time had

elapsedbut my judgment told me that we must have been several hours in this strange world.

Presently the forest terminated, and we came out upon a level plain. A short distance before us rose a few

low, rocky hills. Toward these our captors urged us, and after a short time led us through a narrow pass into a

tiny, circular valley. Here they got down to work, and we were soon convinced that if we were not to die to

make a Roman holiday, we were to die for some other purpose. The attitude of our captors altered

immediately as they entered the natural arena within the rocky hills. Their laughter ceased. Grim ferocity

We were placed in the center of the amphitheaterthe thousand creatures forming a great ring about us.

Then a wolfdog was broughthyaenadon Perry called itand turned loose with us inside the circle. The

thing's body was as large as that of a fullgrown mastiff, its legs were short and powerful, and its jaws broad

and strong. Dark, shaggy hair covered its back and sides, while its breast and belly were quite white. As it

slunk toward us it presented a most formidable aspect with its upcurled lips baring its mighty fangs.

Perry was on his knees, praying. I stooped and picked up a small stone. At my movement the beast veered off

a bit and commenced circling us. Evidently it had been a target for stones before. The apethings were

dancing up and down urging the brute on with savage cries, until at last, seeing that I did not throw, he

At Andover, and later at Yale, I had pitched on winning ball teams. My speed and control must both have

been above the ordinary, for I made such a record during my senior year at college that overtures were made

to me in behalf of one of the great majorleague teams; but in the tightest pitch that ever had confronted me

As I wound up for the delivery, I held my nerves and muscles under absolute command, though the grinning

jaws were hurtling toward me at terrific speed. And then I let go, with every ounce of my weight and muscle

and science in back of that throw. The stone caught the hyaenodon full upon the end of the nose, and sent him

At the same instant a chorus of shrieks and howls arose from the circle of spectators, so that for a moment I

thought that the upsetting of their champion was the cause; but in this I soon saw that I was mistaken. As I

looked, the apethings broke in all directions toward the surrounding hills, and then I distinguished the real

cause of their perturbation. Behind them, streaming through the pass which leads into the valley, came a

swarm of hairy mengorillalike creatures armed with spears and hatchets, and bearing long, oval shields.

Like demons they set upon the apethings, and before them the hyaenodon, which had now regained its

senses and its feet, fled howling with fright. Past us swept the pursued and the pursuers, nor did the hairy

ones accord us more than a passing glance until the arena had been emptied of its former occupants. Then

they returned to us, and one who seemed to have authority among them directed that we be brought with

When we had passed out of the amphitheater onto the great plain we saw a caravan of men and

womenhuman beings like ourselvesand for the first time hope and relief filled my heart, until I could

have cried out in the exuberance of my happiness. It is true that they were a halfnaked, wildappearing

aggregation; but they at least were fashioned along the same lines as ourselvesthere was nothing grotesque

or horrible about them as about the other creatures in this strange, weird world.

But as we came closer, our hearts sank once more, for we discovered that the poor wretches were chained

neck to neck in a long line, and that the gorillamen were their guards. With little ceremony Perry and I were

chained at the end of the line, and without further ado the interrupted march was resumed.

Up to this time the excitement had kept us both up; but now the tiresome monotony of the long march across

the sunbaked plain brought on all the agonies consequent to a longdenied sleep. On and on we stumbled

beneath that hateful noonday sun. If we fell we were prodded with a sharp point. Our companions in chains

did not stumble. They strode along proudly erect. Occasionally they would exchange words with one another

in a monosyllabic language. They were a nobleappearing race with wellformed heads and perfect

physiques. The men were heavily bearded, tall and muscular; the women, smaller and more gracefully

molded, with great masses of raven hair caught into loose knots upon their heads. The features of both sexes

were well proportionedthere was not a face among them that would have been called even plain if judged

by earthly standards. They wore no ornaments; but this I later learned was due to the fact that their captors

had stripped them of everything of value. As garmenture the women possessed a single robe of some

lightcolored, spotted hide, rather similar in appearance to a leopard's skin. This they wore either supported

entirely about the waist by a leathern thong, so that it hung partially below the knee on one side, or possibly

looped gracefully across one shoulder. Their feet were shod with skin sandals. The men wore loin cloths of

the hide of some shaggy beast, long ends of which depended before and behind nearly to the ground. In some

instances these ends were finished with the strong talons of the beast from which the hides had been taken.

Our guards, whom I already have described as gorillalike men, were rather lighter in build than a gorilla, but

even so they were indeed mighty creatures. Their arms and legs were proportioned more in conformity with

human standards, but their entire bodies were covered with shaggy, brown hair, and their faces were quite as

brutal as those of the few stuffed specimens of the gorilla which I had seen in the museums at home.

Their only redeeming feature lay in the development of the head above and back of the ears. In this respect

they were not one whit less human than we. They were clothed in a sort of tunic of light cloth which reached

to the knees. Beneath this they wore only a loin cloth of the same material, while their feet were shod with

Their arms and necks were encircled by many ornaments of metalsilver predominatingand on their

tunics were sewn the heads of tiny reptiles in odd and rather artistic designs. They talked among themselves

as they marched along on either side of us, but in a language which I perceived differed from that employed

by our fellow prisoners. When they addressed the latter they used what appeared to be a third language, and

which I later learned is a mongrel tongue rather analogous to the PidginEnglish of the Chinese coolie.

How far we marched I have no conception, nor has Perry. Both of us were asleep much of the time for hours

before a halt was calledthen we dropped in our tracks. I say "for hours," but how may one measure time

where time does not exist! When our march commenced the sun stood at zenith. When we halted our

shadows still pointed toward nadir. Whether an instant or an eternity of earthly time elapsed who may say.

That march may have occupied nine years and eleven months of the ten years that I spent in the inner world,

or it may have been accomplished in the fraction of a secondI cannot tell. But this I do know that since you

have told me that ten years have elapsed since I departed from this earth I have lost all respect for timeI am

commencing to doubt that such a thing exists other than in the weak, finite mind of man.

WHEN OUR GUARDS AROUSED US FROM SLEEP WE were much refreshed. They gave us food. Strips

of dried meat it was, but it put new life and strength into us, so that now we too marched with highheld

heads, and took noble strides. At least I did, for I was young and proud; but poor Perry hated walking. On

earth I had often seen him call a cab to travel a squarehe was paying for it now, and his old legs wobbled

so that I put my arm about him and half carried him through the balance of those frightful marches.

The country began to change at last, and we wound up out of the level plain through mighty mountains of

virgin granite. The tropical verdure of the lowlands was replaced by hardier vegetation, but even here the

effects of constant heat and light were apparent in the immensity of the trees and the profusion of foliage and

blooms. Crystal streams roared through their rocky channels, fed by the perpetual snows which we could see

far above us. Above the snowcapped heights hung masses of heavy clouds. It was these, Perry explained,

which evidently served the double purpose of replenishing the melting snows and protecting them from the

By this time we had picked up a smattering of the bastard language in which our guards addressed us, as well

as making good headway in the rather charming tongue of our cocaptives. Directly ahead of me in the chain

gang was a young woman. Three feet of chain linked us together in a forced companionship which I, at least,

soon rejoiced in. For I found her a willing teacher, and from her I learned the language of her tribe, and much

of the life and customs of the inner worldat least that part of it with which she was familiar.

She told me that she was called Dian the Beautiful, and that she belonged to the tribe of Amoz, which dwells

"I was running away from Jubal the Ugly One," she answered, as though that was explanation quite

But she could not understand. Nor could I get her to grasp the fact that I was of another world. She was quite

as positive that creation was originated solely to produce her own kind and the world she lived in as are many

"But Jubal," I insisted. "Tell me about him, and why you ran away to be chained by the neck and scourged

"Jubal the Ugly One placed his trophy before my father's house. It was the head of a mighty tandor. It

remained there and no greater trophy was placed beside it. So I knew that Jubal the Ugly One would come

and take me as his mate. None other so powerful wished me, or they would have slain a mightier beast and

thus have won me from Jubal. My father is not a mighty hunter. Once he was, but a sadok tossed him, and

never again had he the full use of his right arm. My brother, Dacor the Strong One, had gone to the land of

Sari to steal a mate for himself. Thus there was none, father, brother, or lover, to save me from Jubal the Ugly

One, and I ran away and hid among the hills that skirt the land of Amoz. And there these Sagoths found me

"I can almost believe that you are of another world," she said, "for otherwise such ignorance were

inexplicable. Do you really mean that you do not know that the Sagoths are the creatures of the Maharsthe

mighty Mahars who think they own Pellucidar and all that walks or grows upon its surface, or creeps or

burrows beneath, or swims within its lakes and oceans, or flies through its air? Next you will be telling me

I was loath to do it, and further incur her scorn; but there was no alternative if I were to absorb knowledge, so

I made a clean breast of my pitiful ignorance as to the mighty Mahars. She was shocked. But she did her very

best to enlighten me, though much that she said was as Greek would have been to her. She described the

Mahars largely by comparisons. In this way they were like unto thipdars, in that to the hairless lidi.

About all I gleaned of them was that they were quite hideous, had wings, and webbed feet; lived in cities built

beneath the ground; could swim under water for great distances, and were very, very wise. The Sagoths were

their weapons of offense and defense, and the races like herself were their hands and feetthey were the

slaves and servants who did all the manual labor. The Mahars were the headsthe brainsof the inner

Perry learned the language with me. When we halted, as we occasionally did, though sometimes the halts

seemed ages apart, he would join in the conversation, as would Ghak the Hairy One, he who was chained just

ahead of Dian the Beautiful. Ahead of Ghak was Hooja the Sly One. He too entered the conversation

occasionally. Most of his remarks were directed toward Dian the Beautiful. It didn't take half an eye to see

that he had developed a bad case; but the girl appeared totally oblivious to his thinly veiled advances. Did I

say thinly veiled? There is a race of men in New Zealand, or Australia, I have forgotten which, who indicate

their preference for the lady of their affections by banging her over the head with a bludgeon. By comparison

with this method Hooja's lovemaking might be called thinly veiled. At first it caused me to blush violently

although I have seen several Old Years out at Rectors, and in other less fashionable places off Broadway, and

But the girl! She was magnificent. It was easy to see that she considered herself as entirely above and apart

from her present surroundings and company. She talked with me, and with Perry, and with the taciturn Ghak

because we were respectful; but she couldn't even see Hooja the Sly One, much less hear him, and that made

him furious. He tried to get one of the Sagoths to move the girl up ahead of him in the slave gang, but the

fellow only poked him with his spear and told him that he had selected the girl for his own propertythat he

would buy her from the Mahars as soon as they reached Phutra. Phutra, it seemed, was the city of our

After passing over the first chain of mountains we skirted a salt sea, upon whose bosom swam countless

horrid things. Seallike creatures there were with long necks stretching ten and more feet above their

enormous bodies and whose snake heads were split with gaping mouths bristling with countless fangs. There

were huge tortoises too, paddling about among these other reptiles, which Perry said were Plesiosaurs of the

Dian told me they were tandorazes, or tandors of the sea, and that the other, and more fearsome reptiles,

which occasionally rose from the deep to do battle with them, were azdyryths, or seadyrythsPerry called

I had forgotten what little geology I had studied at schoolabout all that remained was an impression of

horror that the illustrations of restored prehistoric monsters had made upon me, and a welldefined belief that

any man with a pig's shank and a vivid imagination could "restore" most any sort of paleolithic monster he

saw fit, and take rank as a first class paleontologist. But when I saw these sleek, shiny carcasses shimmering

in the sunlight as they emerged from the ocean, shaking their giant heads; when I saw the waters roll from

their sinuous bodies in miniature waterfalls as they glided hither and thither, now upon the surface, now half

submerged; as I saw them meet, openmouthed, hissing and snorting, in their titanic and interminable

warring I realized how futile is man's poor, weak imagination by comparison with Nature's incredible genius.

"David," he remarked, after we had marched for a long time beside that awful sea. "David, I used to teach

geology, and I thought that I believed what I taught; but now I see that I did not believe itthat it is

impossible for man to believe such things as these unless he sees them with his own eyes. We take things for

granted, perhaps, because we are told them over and over again, and have no way of disproving themlike

religions, for example; but we don't believe them, we only think we do. If you ever get back to the outer

world you will find that the geologists and paleontologists will be the first to set you down a liar, for they

know that no such creatures as they restore ever existed. It is all right to IMAGINE them as existing in an

At the next halt Hooja the Sly One managed to find enough slack chain to permit him to worm himself back

quite close to Dian. We were all standing, and as he edged near the girl she turned her back upon him in such

a truly earthly feminine manner that I could scarce repress a smile; but it was a shortlived smile for on the

instant the Sly One's hand fell upon the girl's bare arm, jerking her roughly toward him.

I was not then familiar with the customs or social ethics which prevailed within Pellucidar; but even so I did

not need the appealing look which the girl shot to me from her magnificent eyes to influence my subsequent

act. What the Sly One's intention was I paused not to inquire; but instead, before he could lay hold of her with

his other hand, I placed a right to the point of his jaw that felled him in his tracks.

A roar of approval went up from those of the other prisoners and the Sagoths who had witnessed the brief

drama; not, as I later learned, because I had championed the girl, but for the neat and, to them, astounding

And the girl? At first she looked at me with wide, wondering eyes, and then she dropped her head, her face

half averted, and a delicate flush suffused her cheek. For a moment she stood thus in silence, and then her

head went high, and she turned her back upon me as she had upon Hooja. Some of the prisoners laughed, and

I saw the face of Ghak the Hairy One go very black as he looked at me searchingly. And what I could see of

Immediately after we resumed the march, and though I realized that in some way I had offended Dian the

Beautiful I could not prevail upon her to talk with me that I might learn wherein I had erredin fact I might

quite as well have been addressing a sphinx for all the attention I got. At last my own foolish pride stepped in

and prevented my making any further attempts, and thus a companionship that without my realizing it had

come to mean a great deal to me was cut off. Thereafter I confined my conversation to Perry. Hooja did not

Again the weary and apparently interminable marching became a perfect nightmare of horrors to me. The

more firmly fixed became the realization that the girl's friendship had meant so much to me, the more I came

to miss it; and the more impregnable the barrier of silly pride. But I was very young and would not ask Ghak

for the explanation which I was sure he could give, and that might have made everything all right again.

On the march, or during halts, Dian refused consistently to notice mewhen her eyes wandered in my

direction she looked either over my head or directly through me. At last I became desperate, and determined

to swallow my selfesteem, and again beg her to tell me how I had offended, and how I might make

reparation. I made up my mind that I should do this at the next halt. We were approaching another range of

mountains at the time, and when we reached them, instead of winding across them through some highflung

pass we entered a mighty natural tunnela series of labyrinthine grottoes, dark as Erebus.

The guards had no torches or light of any description. In fact we had seen no artificial light or sign of fire

since we had entered Pellucidar. In a land of perpetual noon there is no need of light above ground, yet I

marveled that they had no means of lighting their way through these dark, subterranean passages. So we crept

along at a snail's pace, with much stumbling and fallingthe guards keeping up a singsong chant ahead of

us, interspersed with certain high notes which I found always indicated rough places and turns.

Halts were now more frequent, but I did not wish to speak to Dian until I could see from the expression of her

face how she was receiving my apologies. At last a faint glow ahead forewarned us of the end of the tunnel,

for which I for one was devoutly thankful. Then at a sudden turn we emerged into the full light of the

But with it came a sudden realization of what meant to me a real catastropheDian was gone, and with her a

halfdozen other prisoners. The guards saw it too, and the ferocity of their rage was terrible to behold. Their

awesome, bestial faces were contorted in the most diabolical expressions, as they accused each other of

responsibility for the loss. Finally they fell upon us, beating us with their spear shafts, and hatchets. They had

already killed two near the head of the line, and were like to have finished the balance of us when their leader

finally put a stop to the brutal slaughter. Never in all my life had I witnessed a more horrible exhibition of

bestial rageI thanked God that Dian had not been one of those left to endure it.

Of the twelve prisoners who had been chained ahead of me each alternate one had been freed commencing

with Dian. Hooja was gone. Ghak remained. What could it mean? How had it been accomplished? The

commander of the guards was investigating. Soon he discovered that the rude locks which had held the

"Hooja the Sly One," murmured Ghak, who was now next to me in line. "He has taken the girl that you would

"I have doubted your story that you are from another world," he said at last, "but yet upon no other grounds

could your ignorance of the ways of Pellucidar be explained. Do you really mean that you do not know that

"Then shall I tell you. When a man of Pellucidar intervenes between another man and the woman the other

man would have, the woman belongs to the victor. Dian the Beautiful belongs to you. You should have

claimed her or released her. Had you taken her hand, it would have indicated your desire to make her your

mate, and had you raised her hand above her head and then dropped it, it would have meant that you did not

wish her for a mate and that you released her from all obligation to you. By doing neither you have put upon

her the greatest affront that a man may put upon a woman. Now she is your slave. No man will take her as

mate, or may take her honorably, until he shall have overcome you in combat, and men do not choose slave

"I did not know, Ghak," I cried. "I did not know. Not for all Pellucidar would I have harmed Dian the

Beautiful by word, or look, or act of mine. I do not want her as my slave. I do not want her as my" but here

I stopped. The vision of that sweet and innocent face floated before me amidst the soft mists of imagination,

and where I had on the second believed that I clung only to the memory of a gentle friendship I had lost, yet

now it seemed that it would have been disloyalty to her to have said that I did not want Dian the Beautiful as

my mate. I had not thought of her except as a welcome friend in a strange, cruel world. Even now I did not

I believe Ghak must have read the truth more in my expression than in my words, for presently he laid his

"Man of another world," he said, "I believe you. Lips may lie, but when the heart speaks through the eyes it

tells only the truth. Your heart has spoken to me. I know now that you meant no affront to Dian the Beautiful.

She is not of my tribe; but her mother is my sister. She does not know ither mother was stolen by Dian's

father who came with many others of the tribe of Amoz to battle with us for our womenthe most beautiful

women of Pellucidar. Then was her father king of Amoz, and her mother was daughter of the king of

Sarito whose power I, his son, have succeeded. Dian is the daughter of kings, though her father is no

longer king since the sadok tossed him and Jubal the Ugly One wrested his kingship from him. Because of

her lineage the wrong you did her was greatly magnified in the eyes of all who saw it. She will never forgive

I asked Ghak if there was not some way in which I could release the girl from the bondage and ignominy I

"If ever you find her, yes," he answered. "Merely to raise her hand above her head and drop it in the presence

of others is sufficient to release her; but how may you ever find her, you who are doomed to a life of slavery

"Hooja the Sly One escaped and took the others with him," replied Ghak. "But there are no more dark places

on the way to Phutra, and once there it is not so easythe Mahars are very wise. Even if one escaped from

Phutra there are the thipdarsthey would find you, and then" the Hairy One shuddered. "No, you will

It was a cheerful prospect. I asked Perry what he thought about it; but he only shrugged his shoulders and

continued a longwinded prayer he had been at for some time. He was wont to say that the only redeeming

feature of our captivity was the ample time it gave him for the improvisation of prayersit was becoming an

obsession with him. The Sagoths had begun to take notice of his habit of declaiming throughout entire

marches. One of them asked him what he was sayingto whom he was talking. The question gave me an

"Do not interrupt him," I said. "He is a very holy man in the world from which we come. He is speaking to

spirits which you cannot seedo not interrupt him or they will spring out of the air upon you and rend you

limb from limblike that," and I jumped toward the great brute with a loud "Boo!" that sent him stumbling

I took a long chance, I realized, but if we could make any capital out of Perry's harmless mania I wanted to

make it while the making was prime. It worked splendidly. The Sagoths treated us both with marked respect

during the balance of the journey, and then passed the word along to their masters, the Mahars.

Two marches after this episode we came to the city of Phutra. The entrance to it was marked by two lofty

towers of granite, which guarded a flight of steps leading to the buried city. Sagoths were on guard here as

AS WE DESCENDED THE BROAD STAIRCASE WHICH led to the main avenue of Phutra I caught my

first sight of the dominant race of the inner world. Involuntarily I shrank back as one of the creatures

approached to inspect us. A more hideous thing it would be impossible to imagine. The allpowerful Mahars

of Pellucidar are great reptiles, some six or eight feet in length, with long narrow heads and great round eyes.

Their beaklike mouths are lined with sharp, white fangs, and the backs of their huge, lizard bodies are

serrated into bony ridges from their necks to the end of their long tails. Their feet are equipped with three

webbed toes, while from the fore feet membranous wings, which are attached to their bodies just in front of

the hind legs, protrude at an angle of 45 degrees toward the rear, ending in sharp points several feet above

I glanced at Perry as the thing passed me to inspect him. The old man was gazing at the horrid creature with

"A rhamphorhynchus of the Middle Olitic, David," he said, "but, gad, how enormous! The largest remains we

ever have discovered have never indicated a size greater than that attained by an ordinary crow."

As we continued on through the main avenue of Phutra we saw many thousand of the creatures coming and

going upon their daily duties. They paid but little attention to us. Phutra is laid out underground with a

regularity that indicates remarkable engineering skill. It is hewn from solid limestone strata. The streets are

broad and of a uniform height of twenty feet. At intervals tubes pierce the roof of this underground city, and

by means of lenses and reflectors transmit the sunlight, softened and diffused, to dispel what would otherwise

Perry and I were taken, with Ghak, to a large public building, where one of the Sagoths who had formed our

guard explained to a Maharan official the circumstances surrounding our capture. The method of

communication between these two was remarkable in that no spoken words were exchanged. They employed

a species of sign language. As I was to learn later, the Mahars have no ears, not any spoken language. Among

themselves they communicate by means of what Perry says must be a sixth sense which is cognizant of a

I never did quite grasp him, though he endeavored to explain it to me upon numerous occasions. I suggested

telepathy, but he said no, that it was not telepathy since they could only communicate when in each others'

presence, nor could they talk with the Sagoths or the other inhabitants of Pellucidar by the same method they

"What they do," said Perry, "is to project their thoughts into the fourth dimension, when they become

appreciable to the sixth sense of their listener. Do I make myself quite clear?"

"You do not, Perry," I replied. He shook his head in despair, and returned to his work. They had set us to

carrying a great accumulation of Maharan literature from one apartment to another, and there arranging it

upon shelves. I suggested to Perry that we were in the public library of Phutra, but later, as he commenced to

discover the key to their written language, he assured me that we were handling the ancient archives of the

During this period my thoughts were continually upon Dian the Beautiful. I was, of course, glad that she had

escaped the Mahars, and the fate that had been suggested by the Sagoth who had threatened to purchase her

upon our arrival at Phutra. I often wondered if the little party of fugitives had been overtaken by the guards

who had returned to search for them. Sometimes I was not so sure but that I should have been more contented

to know that Dian was here in Phutra, than to think of her at the mercy of Hooja the Sly One. Ghak, Perry,

and I often talked together of possible escape, but the Sarian was so steeped in his lifelong belief that no one

could escape from the Mahars except by a miracle, that he was not much aid to ushis attitude was of one

At my suggestion Perry and I fashioned some swords of scraps of iron which we discovered among some

rubbish in the cells where we slept, for we were permitted almost unrestrained freedom of action within the

limits of the building to which we had been assigned. So great were the number of slaves who waited upon

the inhabitants of Phutra that none of us was apt to be overburdened with work, nor were our masters unkind

We hid our new weapons beneath the skins which formed our beds, and then Perry conceived the idea of

making bows and arrowsweapons apparently unknown within Pellucidar. Next came shields; but these I

We had completed these arrangements for our protection after leaving Phutra when the Sagoths who had been

sent to recapture the escaped prisoners returned with four of them, of whom Hooja was one. Dian and two

others had eluded them. It so happened that Hooja was confined in the same building with us. He told Ghak

that he had not seen Dian or the others after releasing them within the dark grotto. What had become of them

he had not the faintest conceptionthey might be wandering yet, lost within the labyrinthine tunnel, if not

I was now still further apprehensive as to the fate of Dian, and at this time, I imagine, came the first

realization that my affection for the girl might be prompted by more than friendship. During my waking

hours she was constantly the subject of my thoughts, and when I slept her dear face haunted my dreams.

"Perry, " I confided to the old man, "if I have to search every inch of this diminutive world I am going to find

Dian the Beautiful and right the wrong I unintentionally did her." That was the excuse I made for Perry's

"Diminutive world!" he scoffed. "You don't know what you are talking about, my boy," and then he showed

me a map of Pellucidar which he had recently discovered among the manuscript he was arranging.

"Look," he cried, pointing to it, "this is evidently water, and all this land. Do you notice the general

configuration of the two areas? Where the oceans are upon the outer crust, is land here. These relatively small

"We know that the crust of the globe is 500 miles in thickness; then the inside diameter of Pellucidar must be

7,000 miles, and the superficial area 165,480,000 square miles. Threefourths of this is land. Think of it! A

land area of 124,110,000 square miles! Our own world contains but 53,000,000 square miles of land, the

balance of its surface being covered by water. Just as we often compare nations by their relative land areas, so

if we compare these two worlds in the same way we have the strange anomaly of a larger world within a

"Where within vast Pellucidar would you search for your Dian? Without stars, or moon, or changing sun how

The proposition was a corker. It quite took my breath away; but I found that it left me all the more

"Ghak," I said, "we are determined to escape from this bondage. Will you accompany us?"

"They will set the thipdars upon us," he said, "and then we shall be killed; but" he hesitated"I would

take the chance if I thought that I might possibly escape and return to my own people."

"Could you find your way back to your own land?" asked Perry. "And could you aid David in his search for

"But how," persisted Perry, "could you travel to strange country without heavenly bodies or a compass to

Ghak didn't know what Perry meant by heavenly bodies or a compass, but he assured us that you might

blindfold any man of Pellucidar and carry him to the farthermost corner of the world, yet he would be able to

come directly to his own home again by the shortest route. He seemed surprised to think that we found

anything wonderful in it. Perry said it must be some sort of homing instinct such as is possessed by certain

I was for making the attempted escape at once, but both Perry and Ghak counseled waiting for some

propitious accident which would insure us some small degree of success. I didn't see what accident could

befall a whole community in a land of perpetual daylight where the inhabitants had no fixed habits of sleep.

Why, I am sure that some of the Mahars never sleep, while others may, at long intervals, crawl into the dark

recesses beneath their dwellings and curl up in protracted slumber. Perry says that if a Mahar stays awake for

three years he will make up all his lost sleep in a long year's snooze. That may be all true, but I never saw but

three of them asleep, and it was the sight of these three that gave me a suggestion for our means of escape.

I had been searching about far below the levels that we slaves were supposed to frequentpossibly fifty feet

beneath the main floor of the buildingamong a network of corridors and apartments, when I came suddenly

upon three Mahars curled up upon a bed of skins. At first I thought they were dead, but later their regular

breathing convinced me of my error. Like a flash the thought came to me of the marvelous opportunity these

sleeping reptiles offered as a means of eluding the watchfulness of our captors and the Sagoth guards.

Hastening back to Perry where he pored over a musty pile of, to me, meaningless hieroglyphics, I explained

"Here they are not monsters, David," he replied. "Here they are the dominant racewe are the

'monsters'the lower orders. In Pellucidar evolution has progressed along different lines than upon the outer

earth. These terrible convulsions of nature time and time again wiped out the existing speciesbut for this

fact some monster of the Saurozoic epoch might rule today upon our own world. We see here what might

well have occurred in our own history had conditions been what they have been here.

"Life within Pellucidar is far younger than upon the outer crust. Here man has but reached a stage analogous

to the Stone Age of our own world's history, but for countless millions of years these reptiles have been

progressing. Possibly it is the sixth sense which I am sure they possess that has given them an advantage over

the other and more frightfully armed of their fellows; but this we may never know. They look upon us as we

look upon the beasts of our fields, and I learn from their written records that other races of Mahars feed upon

menthey keep them in great droves, as we keep cattle. They breed them most carefully, and when they are

"What is there horrible about it, David?" the old man asked. "They understand us no better than we

understand the lower animals of our own world. Why, I have come across here very learned discussions of

the question as to whether gilaks, that is men, have any means of communication. One writer claims that we

do not even reasonthat our every act is mechanical, or instinctive. The dominant race of Pellucidar, David,

have not yet learned that men converse among themselves, or reason. Because we do not converse as they do

it is beyond them to imagine that we converse at all. It is thus that we reason in relation to the brutes of our

own world. They know that the Sagoths have a spoken language, but they cannot comprehend it, or how it

manifests itself, since they have no auditory apparatus. They believe that the motions of the lips alone convey

the meaning. That the Sagoths can communicate with us is incomprehensible to them.

He got me to go over the plan again most carefully, and for some reason which was not at the time clear to

me insisted upon a very careful description of the apartments and corridors I had just explored.

"I wonder, David," he said at length, "as you are determined to carry out your wild scheme, if we could not

accomplish something of very real and lasting benefit for the human race of Pellucidar at the same time.

Listen, I have learned much of a most surprising nature from these archives of the Mahars. That you may not

"Once the males were allpowerful, but ages ago the females, little by little, assumed the mastery. For other

ages no noticeable change took place in the race of Mahars. It continued to progress under the intelligent and

beneficent rule of the ladies. Science took vast strides. This was especially true of the sciences which we

know as biology and eugenics. Finally a certain female scientist announced the fact that she had discovered a

method whereby eggs might be fertilized by chemical means after they were laidall true reptiles, you

"What happened? Immediately the necessity for males ceased to existthe race was no longer dependent

upon them. More ages elapsed until at the present time we find a race consisting exclusively of females. But

here is the point. The secret of this chemical formula is kept by a single race of Mahars. It is in the city of

Phutra, and unless I am greatly in error I judge from your description of the vaults through which you passed

"For two reasons they hide it away and guard it jealously. First, because upon it depends the very life of the

race of Mahars, and second, owing to the fact that when it was public property as at first so many were

"David, if we can escape, and at the same time take with us this great secret what will we not have

accomplished for the human race within Pellucidar!" The very thought of it fairly overpowered me. Why, we

two would be the means of placing the men of the inner world in their rightful place among created things.

Only the Sagoths would then stand between them and absolute supremacy, and I was not quite sure but that

the Sagoths owed all their power to the greater intelligence of the MaharsI could not believe that these

"Why, Perry," I exclaimed, "you and I may reclaim a whole world! Together we can lead the races of men out

of the darkness of ignorance into the light of advancement and civilization. At one step we may carry them

from the Age of Stone to the twentieth century. It's marvelousabsolutely marvelous just to think about it."

"David," said the old man, "I believe that God sent us here for just that purposeit shall be my life work to

teach them His wordto lead them into the light of His mercy while we are training their hearts and hands in

"You are right, Perry," I said, "and while you are teaching them to pray I'll be teaching them to fight, and

Ghak had entered the apartment some time before we concluded our conversation, and now he wanted to

know what we were so excited about. Perry thought we had best not tell him too much, and so I only

explained that I had a plan for escape. When I had outlined it to him, he seemed about as horrorstruck as

Perry had been; but for a different reason. The Hairy One only considered the horrible fate that would be ours

were we discovered; but at last I prevailed upon him to accept my plan as the only feasible one, and when I

had assured him that I would take all the responsibility for it were we captured, he accorded a reluctant

WITHIN PELLUCIDAR ONE TIME IS AS GOOD AS ANOTHER. There were no nights to mask our

attempted escape. All must be done in broad daylightall but the work I had to do in the apartment beneath

the building. So we determined to put our plan to an immediate test lest the Mahars who made it possible

should awake before I reached them; but we were doomed to disappointment, for no sooner had we reached

the main floor of the building on our way to the pits beneath, than we encountered hurrying bands of slaves

being hastened under strong Sagoth guard out of the edifice to the avenue beyond.

Other Sagoths were darting hither and thither in search of other slaves, and the moment that we appeared we

What the purpose or nature of the general exodus we did not know, but presently through the line of captives

ran the rumor that two escaped slaves had been recaptureda man and a womanand that we were

marching to witness their punishment, for the man had killed a Sagoth of the detachment that had pursued

At the intelligence my heart sprang to my throat, for I was sure that the two were of those who escaped in the

dark grotto with Hooja the Sly One, and that Dian must be the woman. Ghak thought so too, as did Perry.

Along the crowded avenue we marched, the guards showing unusual cruelty toward us, as though we, too,

had been implicated in the murder of their fellow. The occasion was to serve as an objectlesson to all other

slaves of the danger and futility of attempted escape, and the fatal consequences of taking the life of a

superior being, and so I imagine that Sagoths felt amply justified in making the entire proceeding as

They jabbed us with their spears and struck at us with the hatchets at the least provocation, and at no

provocation at all. It was a most uncomfortable halfhour that we spent before we were finally herded

through a low entrance into a huge building the center of which was given up to a goodsized arena. Benches

surrounded this open space upon three sides, and along the fourth were heaped huge bowlders which rose in

At first I couldn't make out the purpose of this mighty pile of rock, unless it were intended as a rough and

picturesque background for the scenes which were enacted in the arena before it, but presently, after the

wooden benches had been pretty well filled by slaves and Sagoths, I discovered the purpose of the bowlders,

They marched directly across the arena toward the rocks upon the opposite side, where, spreading their

batlike wings, they rose above the high wall of the pit, settling down upon the bowlders above. These were

Reptiles that they are, the rough surface of a great stone is to them as plush as upholstery to us. Here they

lolled, blinking their hideous eyes, and doubtless conversing with one another in their sixthsense

For the first time I beheld their queen. She differed from the others in no feature that was appreciable to my

earthly eyes, in fact all Mahars look alike to me: but when she crossed the arena after the balance of her

female subjects had found their bowlders, she was preceded by a score of huge Sagoths, the largest I ever had

seen, and on either side of her waddled a huge thipdar, while behind came another score of Sagoth

At the barrier the Sagoths clambered up the steep side with truly apelike agility, while behind them the

haughty queen rose upon her wings with her two frightful dragons close beside her, and settled down upon

the largest bowlder of them all in the exact center of that side of the amphitheater which is reserved for the

dominant race. Here she squatted, a most repulsive and uninteresting queen; though doubtless quite as well

assured of her beauty and divine right to rule as the proudest monarch of the outer world.

And then the music startedmusic without sound! The Mahars cannot hear, so the drums and fifes and horns

of earthly bands are unknown among them. The "band" consists of a score or more Mahars. It filed out in the

center of the arena where the creatures upon the rocks might see it, and there it performed for fifteen or

Their technic consisted in waving their tails and moving their heads in a regular succession of measured

movements resulting in a cadence which evidently pleased the eye of the Mahar as the cadence of our own

instrumental music pleases our ears. Sometimes the band took measured steps in unison to one side or the

other, or backward and again forwardit all seemed very silly and meaningless to me, but at the end of the

first piece the Mahars upon the rocks showed the first indications of enthusiasm that I had seen displayed by

the dominant race of Pellucidar. They beat their great wings up and down, and smote their rocky perches with

their mighty tails until the ground shook. Then the band started another piece, and all was again as silent as

the grave. That was one great beauty about Mahar musicif you didn't happen to like a piece that was being

When the band had exhausted its repertory it took wing and settled upon the rocks above and behind the

queen. Then the business of the day was on. A man and woman were pushed into the arena by a couple of

Sagoth guardsmen. I leaned forward in my seat to scrutinize the femalehoping against hope that she might

prove to be another than Dian the Beautiful. Her back was toward me for a while, and the sight of the great

Presently a door in one side of the arena wall was opened to admit a huge, shaggy, bulllike creature.

"A Bos," whispered Perry, excitedly. "His kind roamed the outer crust with the cave bear and the mammoth

ages and ages ago. We have been carried back a million years, David, to the childhood of a planetis it not

But I saw only the raven hair of a halfnaked girl, and my heart stood still in dumb misery at the sight of her,

nor had I any eyes for the wonders of natural history. But for Perry and Ghak I should have leaped to the

floor of the arena and shared whatever fate lay in store for this priceless treasure of the Stone Age.

With the advent of the Bosthey call the thing a thag within Pellucidartwo spears were tossed into the

arena at the feet of the prisoners. It seemed to me that a bean shooter would have been as effective against the

As the animal approached the two, bellowing and pawing the ground with the strength of many earthly bulls,

another door directly beneath us was opened, and from it issued the most terrific roar that ever had fallen

upon my outraged ears. I could not at first see the beast from which emanated this fearsome challenge, but the

sound had the effect of bringing the two victims around with a sudden start, and then I saw the girl's

And now, as the two stood frozen in terror, I saw the author of that fearsome sound creeping stealthily into

view. It was a huge tigersuch as hunted the great Bos through the jungles primeval when the world was

young. In contour and markings it was not unlike the noblest of the Bengals of our own world, but as its

dimensions were exaggerated to colossal proportions so too were its colorings exaggerated. Its vivid yellows

fairly screamed aloud; its whites were as eider down; its blacks glossy as the finest anthracite coal, and its

coat long and shaggy as a mountain goat. That it is a beautiful animal there is no gainsaying, but if its size

and colors are magnified here within Pellucidar, so is the ferocity of its disposition. It is not the occasional

member of its species that is a man hunterall are man hunters; but they do not confine their foraging to

man alone, for there is no flesh or fish within Pellucidar that they will not eat with relish in the constant

efforts which they make to furnish their huge carcasses with sufficient sustenance to maintain their mighty

Upon one side of the doomed pair the thag bellowed and advanced, and upon the other tarag, the frightful,

The man seized the spears, handing one of them to the woman. At the sound of the roaring of the tiger the

bull's bellowing became a veritable frenzy of rageful noise. Never in my life had I heard such an infernal din

as the two brutes made, and to think it was all lost upon the hideous reptiles for whom the show was staged!

The thag was charging now from one side, and the tarag from the other. The two puny things standing

between them seemed already lost, but at the very moment that the beasts were upon them the man grasped

his companion by the arm and together they leaped to one side, while the frenzied creatures came together

There ensued a battle royal which for sustained and frightful ferocity transcends the power of imagination or

description. Time and again the colossal bull tossed the enormous tiger high into the air, but each time that

the huge cat touched the ground he returned to the encounter with apparently undiminished strength, and

For a while the man and woman busied themselves only with keeping out of the way of the two creatures, but

finally I saw them separate and each creep stealthily toward one of the combatants. The tiger was now upon

the bull's broad back, clinging to the huge neck with powerful fangs while its long, strong talons ripped the

For a moment the bull stood bellowing and quivering with pain and rage, its cloven hoofs widespread, its tail

lashing viciously from side to side, and then, in a mad orgy of bucking it went careening about the arena in

frenzied attempt to unseat its rending rider. It was with difficulty that the girl avoided the first mad rush of the

All its efforts to rid itself of the tiger seemed futile, until in desperation it threw itself upon the ground, rolling

over and over. A little of this so disconcerted the tiger, knocking its breath from it I imagine, that it lost its

hold and then, quick as a cat, the great thag was up again and had buried those mighty horns deep in the

The great cat clawed at the shaggy head until eyes and ears were gone, and naught but a few strips of ragged,

bloody flesh remained upon the skull. Yet through all the agony of that fearful punishment the thag still stood

motionless pinning down his adversary, and then the man leaped in, seeing that the blind bull would be the

As the animal's fierce clawing ceased, the bull raised his gory, sightless head, and with a horrid roar ran

headlong across the arena. With great leaps and bounds he came, straight toward the arena wall directly

beneath where we sat, and then accident carried him, in one of his mighty springs, completely over the barrier

into the midst of the slaves and Sagoths just in front of us. Swinging his bloody horns from side to side the

beast cut a wide swath before him straight upward toward our seats. Before him slaves and gorillamen

fought in mad stampede to escape the menace of the creature's death agonies, for such only could that

Forgetful of us, our guards joined in the general rush for the exits, many of which pierced the wall of the

amphitheater behind us. Perry, Ghak, and I became separated in the chaos which reigned for a few moments

after the beast cleared the wall of the arena, each intent upon saving his own hide.

I ran to the right, passing several exits choked with the fear mad mob that were battling to escape. One would

have thought that an entire herd of thags was loose behind them, rather than a single blinded, dying beast; but

ONCE OUT OF THE DIRECT PATH OF THE ANIMAL, fear of it left me, but another emotion as quickly

gripped mehope of escape that the demoralized condition of the guards made possible for the instant.

I thought of Perry, but for the hope that I might better encompass his release if myself free I should have put

the thought of freedom from me at once. As it was I hastened on toward the right searching for an exit toward

which no Sagoths were fleeing, and at last I found ita low, narrow aperture leading into a dark corridor.

Without thought of the possible consequence, I darted into the shadows of the tunnel, feeling my way along

through the gloom for some distance. The noises of the amphitheater had grown fainter and fainter until now

all was as silent as the tomb about me. Faint light filtered from above through occasional ventilating and

lighting tubes, but it was scarce sufficient to enable my human eyes to cope with the darkness, and so I was

forced to move with extreme care, feeling my way along step by step with a hand upon the wall beside me.

Presently the light increased and a moment later, to my delight, I came upon a flight of steps leading upward,

at the top of which the brilliant light of the noonday sun shone through an opening in the ground.

Cautiously I crept up the stairway to the tunnel's end, and peering out saw the broad plain of Phutra before

me. The numerous lofty, granite towers which mark the several entrances to the subterranean city were all in

front of mebehind, the plain stretched level and unbroken to the nearby foothills. I had come to the surface,

My first impulse was to await darkness before attempting to cross the plain, so deeply implanted are habits of

thought; but of a sudden I recollected the perpetual noonday brilliance which envelopes Pellucidar, and with a

Rank grass, waist high, grows upon the plain of Phutrathe gorgeous flowering grass of the inner world,

each particular blade of which is tipped with a tiny, fivepointed blossombrilliant little stars of varying

colors that twinkle in the green foliage to add still another charm to the weird, yet lovely, landscape.

But then the only aspect which attracted me was the distant hills in which I hoped to find sanctuary, and so I

hastened on, trampling the myriad beauties beneath my hurrying feet. Perry says that the force of gravity is

less upon the surface of the inner world than upon that of the outer. He explained it all to me once, but I was

never particularly brilliant in such matters and so most of it has escaped me. As I recall it the difference is

due in some part to the counterattraction of that portion of the earth's crust directly opposite the spot upon

the face of Pellucidar at which one's calculations are being made. Be that as it may, it always seemed to me

that I moved with greater speed and agility within Pellucidar than upon the outer surfacethere was a certain

airy lightness of step that was most pleasing, and a feeling of bodily detachment which I can only compare

And as I crossed Phutra's flowerbespangled plain that time I seemed almost to fly, though how much of the

sensation was due to Perry's suggestion and how much to actuality I am sure I do not know. The more I

thought of Perry the less pleasure I took in my newfound freedom. There could be no liberty for me within

Pellucidar unless the old man shared it with me, and only the hope that I might find some way to encompass

Just how I was to help Perry I could scarce imagine, but I hoped that some fortuitous circumstance might

solve the problem for me. It was quite evident however that little less than a miracle could aid me, for what

could I accomplish in this strange world, naked and unarmed? It was even doubtful that I could retrace my

steps to Phutra should I once pass beyond view of the plain, and even were that possible, what aid could I

The case looked more and more hopeless the longer I viewed it, yet with a stubborn persistency I forged

ahead toward the foothills. Behind me no sign of pursuit developed, before me I saw no living thing. It was as

I have no idea, of course, how long it took me to reach the limit of the plain, but at last I entered the foothills,

following a pretty little canyon upward toward the mountains. Beside me frolicked a laughing brooklet,

hurrying upon its noisy way down to the silent sea. In its quieter pools I discovered many small fish, of four

or fivepound weight I should imagine. In appearance, except as to size and color, they were not unlike the

whale of our own seas. As I watched them playing about I discovered, not only that they suckled their young,

but that at intervals they rose to the surface to breathe as well as to feed upon certain grasses and a strange,

It was this last habit that gave me the opportunity I craved to capture one of these herbivorous

cetaceansthat is what Perry calls themand make as good a meal as one can on raw, warmblooded fish;

but I had become rather used, by this time, to the eating of food in its natural state, though I still balked on the

eyes and entrails, much to the amusement of Ghak, to whom I always passed these delicacies.

Crouching beside the brook, I waited until one of the diminutive purple whales rose to nibble at the long

grasses which overhung the water, and then, like the beast of prey that man really is, I sprang upon my

Then I drank from the clear pool, and after washing my hands and face continued my flight. Above the source

of the brook I encountered a rugged climb to the summit of a long ridge. Beyond was a steep declivity to the

shore of a placid, inland sea, upon the quiet surface of which lay several beautiful islands.

The view was charming in the extreme, and as no man or beast was to be seen that might threaten my

newfound liberty, I slid over the edge of the bluff, and half sliding, half falling, dropped into the delightful

The gently sloping beach along which I walked was thickly strewn with strangely shaped, colored shells;

some empty, others still housing as varied a multitude of mollusks as ever might have drawn out their

sluggish lives along the silent shores of the antediluvian seas of the outer crust. As I walked I could not but

compare myself with the first man of that other world, so complete the solitude which surrounded me, so

primal and untouched the virgin wonders and beauties of adolescent nature. I felt myself a second Adam

wending my lonely way through the childhood of a world, searching for my Eve, and at the thought there rose

before my mind's eye the exquisite outlines of a perfect face surmounted by a loose pile of wondrous, raven

As I walked, my eyes were bent upon the beach so that it was not until I had come quite upon it that I

discovered that which shattered all my beautiful dream of solitude and safety and peace and primal

overlordship. The thing was a hollowed log drawn upon the sands, and in the bottom of it lay a crude paddle.

The rude shock of awakening to what doubtless might prove some new form of danger was still upon me

when I heard a rattling of loose stones from the direction of the bluff, and turning my eyes in that direction I

beheld the author of the disturbance, a great coppercolored man, running rapidly toward me.

There was that in the haste with which he came which seemed quite sufficiently menacing, so that I did not

need the added evidence of brandishing spear and scowling face to warn me that I was in no safe position, but

The speed of the fellow seemed to preclude the possibility of escaping him upon the open beach. There was

but a single alternativethe rude skiffand with a celerity which equaled his, I pushed the thing into the

A cry of rage rose from the owner of the primitive craft, and an instant later his heavy, stonetipped spear

grazed my shoulder and buried itself in the bow of the boat beyond. Then I grasped the paddle, and with

A glance over my shoulder showed me that the coppercolored one had plunged in after me and was

swimming rapidly in pursuit. His mighty strokes bade fair to close up the distance between us in short order,

for at best I could make but slow progress with my unfamiliar craft, which nosed stubbornly in every

direction but that which I desired to follow, so that fully half my energy was expended in turning its blunt

I had covered some hundred yards from shore when it became evident that my pursuer must grasp the stern of

the skiff within the next halfdozen strokes. In a frenzy of despair, I bent to the grandfather of all paddles in a

hopeless effort to escape, and still the copper giant behind me gained and gained.

His hand was reaching upward for the stern when I saw a sleek, sinuous body shoot from the depths below.

The man saw it too, and the look of terror that overspread his face assured me that I need have no further

And then about him coiled the great, slimy folds of a hideous monster of that prehistoric deepa mighty

serpent of the sea, with fanged jaws, and darting forked tongue, with bulging eyes, and bony protuberances

As I looked at that hopeless struggle my eyes met those of the doomed man, and I could have sworn that in

his I saw an expression of hopeless appeal. But whether I did or not there swept through me a sudden

compassion for the fellow. He was indeed a brotherman, and that he might have killed me with pleasure had

Unconsciously I had ceased paddling as the serpent rose to engage my pursuer, so now the skiff still drifted

close beside the two. The monster seemed to be but playing with his victim before he closed his awful jaws

upon him and dragged him down to his dark den beneath the surface to devour him. The huge, snakelike body

coiled and uncoiled about its prey. The hideous, gaping jaws snapped in the victim's face. The forked tongue,

Nobly the giant battled for his life, beating with his stone hatchet against the bony armor that covered that

frightful carcass; but for all the damage he inflicted he might as well have struck with his open palm.

At last I could endure no longer to sit supinely by while a fellowman was dragged down to a horrible death

by that repulsive reptile. Embedded in the prow of the skiff lay the spear that had been cast after me by him

whom I suddenly desired to save. With a wrench I tore it loose, and standing upright in the wobbly log drove

it with all the strength of my two arms straight into the gaping jaws of the hydrophidian.

With a loud hiss the creature abandoned its prey to turn upon me, but the spear, imbedded in its throat,

prevented it from seizing me though it came near to overturning the skiff in its mad efforts to reach me.

THE ABORIGINE, APPARENTLY UNINJURED, CLIMBED quickly into the skiff, and seizing the spear

with me helped to hold off the infuriated creature. Blood from the wounded reptile was now crimsoning the

waters about us and soon from the weakening struggles it became evident that I had inflicted a death wound

upon it. Presently its efforts to reach us ceased entirely, and with a few convulsive movements it turned upon

And then there came to me a sudden realization of the predicament in which I had placed myself. I was

entirely within the power of the savage man whose skiff I had stolen. Still clinging to the spear I looked into

his face to find him scrutinizing me intently, and there we stood for some several minutes, each clinging

tenaciously to the weapon the while we gazed in stupid wonderment at each other.

What was in his mind I do not know, but in my own was merely the question as to how soon the fellow

Presently he spoke to me, but in a tongue which I was unable to translate. I shook my head in an effort to

indicate my ignorance of his language, at the same time addressing him in the bastard tongue that the Sagoths

"I would not do that," he said, "for you have just saved my life," and with that he released his hold upon it

I too sat down, laying the spear between us, and tried to explain how I came to Pellucidar, and wherefrom,

but it was as impossible for him to grasp or believe the strange tale I told him as I fear it is for you upon the

outer crust to believe in the existence of the inner world. To him it seemed quite ridiculous to imagine that

there was another world far beneath his feet peopled by beings similar to himself, and he laughed

uproariously the more he thought upon it. But it was ever thus. That which has never come within the scope

of our really pitifully meager worldexperience cannot beour finite minds cannot grasp that which may not

exist in accordance with the conditions which obtain about us upon the outside of the insignificant grain of

dust which wends its tiny way among the bowlders of the universethe speck of moist dirt we so proudly

So I gave it up and asked him about himself. He said he was a Mezop, and that his name was Ja.

"I might indeed believe that you were from another world," he said, "for who of Pellucidar could be so

ignorant! The Mezops live upon the islands of the seas. In so far as I ever have heard no Mezop lives

elsewhere, and no others than Mezops dwell upon islands, but of course it may be different in other

fardistant lands. I do not know. At any rate in this sea and those near by it is true that only people of my race

"We are fishermen, though we be great hunters as well, often going to the mainland in search of the game that

is scarce upon all but the larger islands. And we are warriors also," he added proudly. "Even the Sagoths of

the Mahars fear us. Once, when Pellucidar was young, the Sagoths were wont to capture us for slaves as they

do the other men of Pellucidar, it is handed down from father to son among us that this is so; but we fought so

desperately and slew so many Sagoths, and those of us that were captured killed so many Mahars in their own

cities that at last they learned that it were better to leave us alone, and later came the time that the Mahars

became too indolent even to catch their own fish, except for amusement, and then they needed us to supply

their wants, and so a truce was made between the races. Now they give us certain things which we are unable

to produce in return for the fish that we catch, and the Mezops and the Mahars live in peace.

"The great ones even come to our islands. It is there, far from the prying eyes of their own Sagoths, that they

practice their religious rites in the temples they have builded there with our assistance. If you live among us

you will doubtless see the manner of their worship, which is strange indeed, and most unpleasant for the poor

As Ja talked I had an excellent opportunity to inspect him more closely. He was a huge fellow, standing I

should say six feet six or seven inches, well developed and of a coppery red not unlike that of our own North

American Indian, nor were his features dissimilar to theirs. He had the aquiline nose found among many of

the higher tribes, the prominent cheek bones, and black hair and eyes, but his mouth and lips were better

molded. All in all, Ja was an impressive and handsome creature, and he talked well too, even in the miserable

During our conversation Ja had taken the paddle and was propelling the skiff with vigorous strokes toward a

large island that lay some halfmile from the mainland. The skill with which he handled his crude and

awkward craft elicited my deepest admiration, since it had been so short a time before that I had made such

As we touched the pretty, level beach Ja leaped out and I followed him. Together we dragged the skiff far up

"We must hide our canoes," explained Ja, "for the Mezops of Luana are always at war with us and would

steal them if they found them," he nodded toward an island farther out at sea, and at so great a distance that it

seemed but a blur hanging in the distant sky. The upward curve of the surface of Pellucidar was constantly

revealing the impossible to the surprised eyes of the outerearthly. To see land and water curving upward in

the distance until it seemed to stand on edge where it melted into the distant sky, and to feel that seas and

mountains hung suspended directly above one's head required such a complete reversal of the perceptive and

No sooner had we hidden the canoe than Ja plunged into the jungle, presently emerging into a narrow but

welldefined trail which wound hither and thither much after the manner of the highways of all primitive

folk, but there was one peculiarity about this Mezop trail which I was later to find distinguished them from all

It would run on, plain and clear and well defined to end suddenly in the midst of a tangle of matted jungle,

then Ja would turn directly back in his tracks for a little distance, spring into a tree, climb through it to the

other side, drop onto a fallen log, leap over a low bush and alight once more upon a distinct trail which he

would follow back for a short distance only to turn directly about and retrace his steps until after a mile or

less this new pathway ended as suddenly and mysteriously as the former section. Then he would pass again

across some media which would reveal no spoor, to take up the broken thread of the trail beyond.

As the purpose of this remarkable avenue dawned upon me I could not but admire the native shrewdness of

the ancient progenitor of the Mezops who hit upon this novel plan to throw his enemies from his track and

To you of the outer earth it might seem a slow and tortuous method of traveling through the jungle, but were

you of Pellucidar you would realize that time is no factor where time does not exist. So labyrinthine are the

windings of these trails, so varied the connecting links and the distances which one must retrace one's steps

from the paths' ends to find them that a Mezop often reaches man's estate before he is familiar even with

In fact threefourths of the education of the young male Mezop consists in familiarizing himself with these

jungle avenues, and the status of an adult is largely determined by the number of trails which he can follow

upon his own island. The females never learn them, since from birth to death they never leave the clearing in

which the village of their nativity is situated except they be taken to mate by a male from another village, or

After proceeding through the jungle for what must have been upward of five miles we emerged suddenly into

a large clearing in the exact center of which stood as strange an appearing village as one might well imagine.

Large trees had been chopped down fifteen or twenty feet above the ground, and upon the tops of them

spherical habitations of woven twigs, mud covered, had been built. Each balllike house was surmounted by

some manner of carven image, which Ja told me indicated the identity of the owner.

Horizontal slits, six inches high and two or three feet wide, served to admit light and ventilation. The

entrances to the house were through small apertures in the bases of the trees and thence upward by rude

ladders through the hollow trunks to the rooms above. The houses varied in size from two to several rooms.

All about the village, between it and the jungle, lay beautifully cultivated fields in which the Mezops raised

such cereals, fruits, and vegetables as they required. Women and children were working in these gardens as

we crossed toward the village. At sight of Ja they saluted deferentially, but to me they paid not the slightest

attention. Among them and about the outer verge of the cultivated area were many warriors. These too

saluted Ja, by touching the points of their spears to the ground directly before them.

Ja conducted me to a large house in the center of the villagethe house with eight roomsand taking me up

into it gave me food and drink. There I met his mate, a comely girl with a nursing baby in her arms. Ja told

her of how I had saved his life, and she was thereafter most kind and hospitable toward me, even permitting

me to hold and amuse the tiny bundle of humanity whom Ja told me would one day rule the tribe, for Ja, it

We had eaten and rested, and I had slept, much to Ja's amusement, for it seemed that he seldom if ever did so,

and then the red man proposed that I accompany him to the temple of the Mahars which lay not far from his

village. "We are not supposed to visit it," he said; "but the great ones cannot hear and if we keep well out of

sight they need never know that we have been there. For my part I hate them and always have, but the other

chieftains of the island think it best that we continue to maintain the amicable relations which exist between

the two races; otherwise I should like nothing better than to lead my warriors amongst the hideous creatures

and exterminate themPellucidar would be a better place to live were there none of them."

I wholly concurred in Ja's belief, but it seemed that it might be a difficult matter to exterminate the dominant

race of Pellucidar. Thus conversing we followed the intricate trail toward the temple, which we came upon in

a small clearing surrounded by enormous trees similar to those which must have flourished upon the outer

Here was a mighty temple of hewn rock built in the shape of a rough oval with rounded roof in which were

several large openings. No doors or windows were visible in the sides of the structure, nor was there need of

any, except one entrance for the slaves, since, as Ja explained, the Mahars flew to and from their place of

ceremonial, entering and leaving the building by means of the apertures in the roof.

"But," added Ja, "there is an entrance near the base of which even the Mahars know nothing. Come," and he

led me across the clearing and about the end to a pile of loose rock which lay against the foot of the wall.

Here he removed a couple of large bowlders, revealing a small opening which led straight within the

building, or so it seemed, though as I entered after Ja I discovered myself in a narrow place of extreme

The red man groped ahead a few paces and then began to ascend a primitive ladder similar to that which

leads from the ground to the upper stories of his house. We ascended for some forty feet when the interior of

the space between the walls commenced to grow lighter and presently we came opposite an opening in the

inner wall which gave us an unobstructed view of the entire interior of the temple.

The lower floor was an enormous tank of clear water in which numerous hideous Mahars swam lazily up and

down. Artificial islands of granite rock dotted this artificial sea, and upon several of them I saw men and

"Wait and you shall see," replied Ja. "They are to take a leading part in the ceremonies which will follow the

advent of the queen. You may be thankful that you are not upon the same side of the wall as they."

Scarcely had he spoken than we heard a great fluttering of wings above and a moment later a long procession

of the frightful reptiles of Pellucidar winged slowly and majestically through the large central opening in the

There were several Mahars first, and then at least twenty aweinspiring pterodactylsthipdars, they are

called within Pellucidar. Behind these came the queen, flanked by other thipdars as she had been when she

Three times they wheeled about the interior of the oval chamber, to settle finally upon the damp, cold

bowlders that fringe the outer edge of the pool. In the center of one side the largest rock was reserved for the

All lay quiet for several minutes after settling to their places. One might have imagined them in silent prayer.

The poor slaves upon the diminutive islands watched the horrid creatures with wide eyes. The men, for the

most part, stood erect and stately with folded arms, awaiting their doom; but the women and children clung to

one another, hiding behind the males. They are a noblelooking race, these cave men of Pellucidar, and if our

progenitors were as they, the human race of the outer crust has deteriorated rather than improved with the

march of the ages. All they lack is opportunity. We have opportunity, and little else.

Now the queen moved. She raised her ugly head, looking about; then very slowly she crawled to the edge of

her throne and slid noiselessly into the water. Up and down the long tank she swam, turning at the ends as

you have seen captive seals turn in their tiny tanks, turning upon their backs and diving below the surface.

Nearer and nearer to the island she came until at last she remained at rest before the largest, which was

directly opposite her throne. Raising her hideous head from the water she fixed her great, round eyes upon the

slaves. They were fat and sleek, for they had been brought from a distant Mahar city where human beings are

The queen fixed her gaze upon a plump young maiden. Her victim tried to turn away, hiding her face in her

hands and kneeling behind a woman; but the reptile, with unblinking eyes, stared on with such fixity that I

could have sworn her vision penetrated the woman, and the girl's arms to reach at last the very center of her

Slowly the reptile's head commenced to move to and fro, but the eyes never ceased to bore toward the

frightened girl, and then the victim responded. She turned wide, fearhaunted eyes toward the Mahar queen,

slowly she rose to her feet, and then as though dragged by some unseen power she moved as one in a trance

straight toward the reptile, her glassy eyes fixed upon those of her captor. To the water's edge she came, nor

did she even pause, but stepped into the shallows beside the little island. On she moved toward the Mahar,

who now slowly retreated as though leading her victim on. The water rose to the girl's knees, and still she

advanced, chained by that clammy eye. Now the water was at her waist; now her armpits. Her fellows upon

the island looked on in horror, helpless to avert her doom in which they saw a forecast of their own.

The Mahar sank now till only the long upper bill and eyes were exposed above the surface of the water, and

the girl had advanced until the end of that repulsive beak was but an inch or two from her face, her

Now the water passed above the girl's mouth and noseher eyes and forehead all that showedyet still she

walked on after the retreating Mahar. The queen's head slowly disappeared beneath the surface and after it

went the eyes of her victimonly a slow ripple widened toward the shores to mark where the two vanished.

For a time all was silence within the temple. The slaves were motionless in terror. The Mahars watched the

surface of the water for the reappearance of their queen, and presently at one end of the tank her head rose

slowly into view. She was backing toward the surface, her eyes fixed before her as they had been when she

And then to my utter amazement I saw the forehead and eyes of the maiden come slowly out of the depths,

following the gaze of the reptile just as when she had disappeared beneath the surface. On and on came the

girl until she stood in water that reached barely to her knees, and though she had been beneath the surface

sufficient time to have drowned her thrice over there was no indication, other than her dripping hair and

Again and again the queen led the girl into the depths and out again, until the uncanny weirdness of the thing

got on my nerves so that I could have leaped into the tank to the child's rescue had I not taken a firm hold of

Once they were below much longer than usual, and when they came to the surface I was horrified to see that

one of the girl's arms was gonegnawed completely off at the shoulderbut the poor thing gave no

indication of realizing pain, only the horror in her set eyes seemed intensified.

The next time they appeared the other arm was gone, and then the breasts, and then a part of the faceit was

awful. The poor creatures on the islands awaiting their fate tried to cover their eyes with their hands to hide

the fearful sight, but now I saw that they too were under the hypnotic spell of the reptiles, so that they could

only crouch in terror with their eyes fixed upon the terrible thing that was transpiring before them.

Finally the queen was under much longer than ever before, and when she rose she came alone and swam

sleepily toward her bowlder. The moment she mounted it seemed to be the signal for the other Mahars to

enter the tank, and then commenced, upon a larger scale, a repetition of the uncanny performance through

Only the women and children fell prey to the Maharsthey being the weakest and most tenderand when

they had satisfied their appetite for human flesh, some of them devouring two and three of the slaves, there

were only a score of fullgrown men left, and I thought that for some reason these were to be spared, but

such was far from the case, for as the last Mahar crawled to her rock the queen's thipdars darted into the air,

circled the temple once and then, hissing like steam engines, swooped down upon the remaining slaves.

There was no hypnotism herejust the plain, brutal ferocity of the beast of prey, tearing, rending, and

gulping its meat, but at that it was less horrible than the uncanny method of the Mahars. By the time the

thipdars had disposed of the last of the slaves the Mahars were all asleep upon their rocks, and a moment later

the great pterodactyls swung back to their posts beside the queen, and themselves dropped into slumber.

"They do many things in this temple which they do not do elsewhere," he replied. "The Mahars of Phutra are

not supposed to eat human flesh, yet slaves are brought here by thousands and almost always you will find

Mahars on hand to consume them. I imagine that they do not bring their Sagoths here, because they are

ashamed of the practice, which is supposed to obtain only among the least advanced of their race; but I would

wager my canoe against a broken paddle that there is no Mahar but eats human flesh whenever she can get

"Why should they object to eating human flesh," I asked, "if it is true that they look upon us as lower

"It is not because they consider us their equals that they are supposed to look with abhorrence upon those

who eat our flesh," replied Ja; "it is merely that we are warmblooded animals. They would not think of

eating the meat of a thag, which we consider such a delicacy, any more than I would think of eating a snake.

As a matter of fact it is difficult to explain just why this sentiment should exist among them."

"I wonder if they left a single victim," I remarked, leaning far out of the opening in the rocky wall to inspect

the temple better. Directly below me the water lapped the very side of the wall, there being a break in the

bowlders at this point as there was at several other places about the side of the temple.

My hands were resting upon a small piece of granite which formed a part of the wall, and all my weight upon

it proved too much for it. It slipped and I lunged forward. There was nothing to save myself and I plunged

Fortunately the tank was deep at this point, and I suffered no injury from the fall, but as I was rising to the

surface my mind filled with the horrors of my position as I thought of the terrible doom which awaited me the

moment the eyes of the reptiles fell upon the creature that had disturbed their slumber.

As long as I could I remained beneath the surface, swimming rapidly in the direction of the islands that I

might prolong my life to the utmost. At last I was forced to rise for air, and as I cast a terrified glance in the

direction of the Mahars and the thipdars I was almost stunned to see that not a single one remained upon the

rocks where I had last seen them, nor as I searched the temple with my eyes could I discern any within it.

For a moment I was puzzled to account for the thing, until I realized that the reptiles, being deaf, could not

have been disturbed by the noise my body made when it hit the water, and that as there is no such thing as

time within Pellucidar there was no telling how long I had been beneath the surface. It was a difficult thing to

attempt to figure out by earthly standardsthis matter of elapsed timebut when I set myself to it I began

to realize that I might have been submerged a second or a month or not at all. You have no conception of the

strange contradictions and impossibilities which arise when all methods of measuring time, as we know them

I was about to congratulate myself upon the miracle which had saved me for the moment, when the memory

of the hypnotic powers of the Mahars filled me with apprehension lest they be practicing their uncanny art

upon me to the end that I merely imagined that I was alone in the temple. At the thought cold sweat broke out

upon me from every pore, and as I crawled from the water onto one of the tiny islands I was trembling like a

leafyou cannot imagine the awful horror which even the simple thought of the repulsive Mahars of

Pellucidar induces in the human mind, and to feel that you are in their powerthat they are crawling, slimy,

and abhorrent, to drag you down beneath the waters and devour you! It is frightful.

But they did not come, and at last I came to the conclusion that I was indeed alone within the temple. How

long I should be alone was the next question to assail me as I swam frantically about once more in search of a

Several times I called to Ja, but he must have left after I tumbled into the tank, for I received no response to

my cries. Doubtless he had felt as certain of my doom when he saw me topple from our hiding place as I had,

and lest he too should be discovered, had hastened from the temple and back to his village.

I knew that there must be some entrance to the building beside the doorways in the roof, for it did not seem

reasonable to believe that the thousands of slaves which were brought here to feed the Mahars the human

flesh they craved would all be carried through the air, and so I continued my search until at last it was

rewarded by the discovery of several loose granite blocks in the masonry at one end of the temple.

A little effort proved sufficient to dislodge enough of these stones to permit me to crawl through into the

clearing, and a moment later I had scurried across the intervening space to the dense jungle beyond.

Here I sank panting and trembling upon the matted grasses beneath the giant trees, for I felt that I had escaped

from the grinning fangs of death out of the depths of my own grave. Whatever dangers lay hidden in this

island jungle, there could be none so fearsome as those which I had just escaped. I knew that I could meet

death bravely enough if it but came in the form of some familiar beast or mananything other than the

I MUST HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP FROM EXHAUSTION. When I awoke I was very hungry, and after

busying myself searching for fruit for a while, I set off through the jungle to find the beach. I knew that the

island was not so large but that I could easily find the sea if I did but move in a straight line, but there came

the difficulty as there was no way in which I could direct my course and hold it, the sun, of course, being

always directly above my head, and the trees so thickly set that I could see no distant object which might

As it was I must have walked for a great distance since I ate four times and slept twice before I reached the

sea, but at last I did so, and my pleasure at the sight of it was greatly enhanced by the chance discovery of a

hidden canoe among the bushes through which I had stumbled just prior to coming upon the beach.

I can tell you that it did not take me long to pull that awkward craft down to the water and shove it far out

from shore. My experience with Ja had taught me that if I were to steal another canoe I must be quick about it

I must have come out upon the opposite side of the island from that at which Ja and I had entered it, for the

mainland was nowhere in sight. For a long time I paddled around the shore, though well out, before I saw the

mainland in the distance. At the sight of it I lost no time in directing my course toward it, for I had long since

made up my mind to return to Phutra and give myself up that I might be once more with Perry and Ghak the

I felt that I was a fool ever to have attempted to escape alone, especially in view of the fact that our plans

were already well formulated to make a break for freedom together. Of course I realized that the chances of

the success of our proposed venture were slim indeed, but I knew that I never could enjoy freedom without

Perry so long as the old man lived, and I had learned that the probability that I might find him was less than

Had Perry been dead, I should gladly have pitted my strength and wit against the savage and primordial world

in which I found myself. I could have lived in seclusion within some rocky cave until I had found the means

to outfit myself with the crude weapons of the Stone Age, and then set out in search of her whose image had

now become the constant companion of my waking hours, and the central and beloved figure of my dreams.

But, to the best of my knowledge, Perry still lived and it was my duty and wish to be again with him, that we

might share the dangers and vicissitudes of the strange world we had discovered. And Ghak, too; the great,

shaggy man had found a place in the hearts of us both, for he was indeed every inch a man and king.

Uncouth, perhaps, and brutal, too, if judged too harshly by the standards of effete twentieth century

Chance carried me to the very beach upon which I had discovered Ja's canoe, and a short time later I was

scrambling up the steep bank to retrace my steps from the plain of Phutra. But my troubles came when I

entered the canyon beyond the summit, for here I found that several of them centered at the point where I

crossed the divide, and which one I had traversed to reach the pass I could not for the life of me remember.

It was all a matter of chance and so I set off down that which seemed the easiest going, and in this I made the

same mistake that many of us do in selecting the path along which we shall follow out the course of our lives,

and again learned that it is not always best to follow the line of least resistance.

By the time I had eaten eight meals and slept twice I was convinced that I was upon the wrong trail, for

between Phutra and the inland sea I had not slept at all, and had eaten but once. To retrace my steps to the

summit of the divide and explore another canyon seemed the only solution of my problem, but a sudden

widening and levelness of the canyon just before me seemed to suggest that it was about to open into a level

country, and with the lure of discovery strong upon me I decided to proceed but a short distance farther

The next turn of the canyon brought me to its mouth, and before me I saw a narrow plain leading down to an

ocean. At my right the side of the canyon continued to the water's edge, the valley lying to my left, and the

Clumps of strange trees dotted the landscape here and there almost to the water, and rank grass and ferns

grew between. From the nature of the vegetation I was convinced that the land between the ocean and the

foothills was swampy, though directly before me it seemed dry enough all the way to the sandy strip along

Curiosity prompted me to walk down to the beach, for the scene was very beautiful. As I passed along beside

the deep and tangled vegetation of the swamp I thought that I saw a movement of the ferns at my left, but

though I stopped a moment to look it was not repeated, and if anything lay hid there my eyes could not

Presently I stood upon the beach looking out over the wide and lonely sea across whose forbidding bosom no

human being had yet ventured, to discover what strange and mysterious lands lay beyond, or what its

invisible islands held of riches, wonders, or adventure. What savage faces, what fierce and formidable beasts

were this very instant watching the lapping of the waves upon its farther shore! How far did it extend? Perry

had told me that the seas of Pellucidar were small in comparison with those of the outer crust, but even so this

great ocean might stretch its broad expanse for thousands of miles. For countless ages it had rolled up and

down its countless miles of shore, and yet today it remained all unknown beyond the tiny strip that was

The fascination of speculation was strong upon me. It was as though I had been carried back to the birth time

of our own outer world to look upon its lands and seas ages before man had traversed either. Here was a new

world, all untouched. It called to me to explore it. I was dreaming of the excitement and adventure which lay

before us could Perry and I but escape the Mahars, when something, a slight noise I imagine, drew my

As I turned, romance, adventure, and discovery in the abstract took wing before the terrible embodiment of

A huge, slimy amphibian it was, with toadlike body and the mighty jaws of an alligator. Its immense carcass

must have weighed tons, and yet it moved swiftly and silently toward me. Upon one hand was the bluff that

ran from the canyon to the sea, on the other the fearsome swamp from which the creature had sneaked upon

me, behind lay the mighty untracked sea, and before me in the center of the narrow way that led to safety

A single glance at the thing was sufficient to assure me that I was facing one of those longextinct,

prehistoric creatures whose fossilized remains are found within the outer crust as far back as the Triassic

formation, a gigantic labyrinthodon. And there I was, unarmed, and, with the exception of a loin cloth, as

naked as I had come into the world. I could imagine how my first ancestor felt that distant, prehistoric morn

that he encountered for the first time the terrifying progenitor of the thing that had me cornered now beside

Unquestionably he had escaped, or I should not have been within Pellucidar or elsewhere, and I wished at

that moment that he had handed down to me with the various attributes that I presumed I have inherited from

him, the specific application of the instinct of selfpreservation which saved him from the fate which loomed

To seek escape in the swamp or in the ocean would have been similar to jumping into a den of lions to escape

one upon the outside. The sea and swamp both were doubtless alive with these mighty, carnivorous

amphibians, and if not, the individual that menaced me would pursue me into either the sea or the swamp

There seemed nothing to do but stand supinely and await my end. I thought of Perryhow he would wonder

what had become of me. I thought of my friends of the outer world, and of how they all would go on living

their lives in total ignorance of the strange and terrible fate that had overtaken me, or unguessing the weird

surroundings which had witnessed the last frightful agony of my extinction. And with these thoughts came a

realization of how unimportant to the life and happiness of the world is the existence of any one of us. We

may be snuffed out without an instant's warning, and for a brief day our friends speak of us with subdued

voices. The following morning, while the first worm is busily engaged in testing the construction of our

coffin, they are teeing up for the first hole to suffer more acute sorrow over a sliced ball than they did over

our, to us, untimely demise. The labyrinthodon was coming more slowly now. He seemed to realize that

escape for me was impossible, and I could have sworn that his huge, fanged jaws grinned in pleasurable

appreciation of my predicament, or was it in anticipation of the juicy morsel which would so soon be pulp

He was about fifty feet from me when I heard a voice calling to me from the direction of the bluff at my left. I

looked and could have shouted in delight at the sight that met my eyes, for there stood Ja, waving frantically

I had no idea that I should escape the monster that had marked me for his breakfast, but at least I should not

die alone. Human eyes would watch me end. It was cold comfort I presume, but yet I derived some slight

To run seemed ridiculous, especially toward that steep and unscalable cliff, and yet I did so, and as I ran I

saw Ja, agile as a monkey, crawl down the precipitous face of the rocks, clinging to small projections, and the

The labyrinthodon evidently thought that Ja was coming to double his portion of human flesh, so he was in

no haste to pursue me to the cliff and frighten away this other tidbit. Instead he merely trotted along behind

As I approached the foot of the cliff I saw what Ja intended doing, but I doubted if the thing would prove

successful. He had come down to within twenty feet of the bottom, and there, clinging with one hand to a

small ledge, and with his feet resting, precariously upon tiny bushes that grew from the solid face of the rock,

he lowered the point of his long spear until it hung some six feet above the ground.

To clamber up that slim shaft without dragging Ja down and precipitating both to the same doom from which

the coppercolored one was attempting to save me seemed utterly impossible, and as I came near the spear I

"The danger is still yours," he called, "for unless you move much more rapidly than you are now, the sithic

will be upon you and drag you back before ever you are halfway up the spearhe can rear up and reach you

Well, Ja should know his own business, I thought, and so I grasped the spear and clambered up toward the

red man as rapidly as I couldbeing so far removed from my simian ancestors as I am. I imagine the

slowwitted sithic, as Ja called him, suddenly realized our intentions and that he was quite likely to lose all

When he saw me clambering up that spear he let out a hiss that fairly shook the ground, and came charging

after me at a terrific rate. I had reached the top of the spear by this time, or almost; another six inches would

give me a hold on Ja's hand, when I felt a sudden wrench from below and glancing fearfully downward saw

I made a frantic effort to reach Ja's hand, the sithic gave a tremendous tug that came near to jerking Ja from

his frail hold on the surface of the rock, the spear slipped from his fingers, and still clinging to it I plunged

At the instant that he felt the spear come away from Ja's hand the creature must have opened his huge jaws to

catch me, for when I came down, still clinging to the butt end of the weapon, the point yet rested in his mouth

With the pain he snapped his mouth closed. I fell upon his snout, lost my hold upon the spear, rolled the

length of his face and head, across his short neck onto his broad back and from there to the ground.

Scarce had I touched the earth than I was upon my feet, dashing madly for the path by which I had entered

this horrible valley. A glance over my shoulder showed me the sithic engaged in pawing at the spear stuck

through his lower jaw, and so busily engaged did he remain in this occupation that I had gained the safety of

the cliff top before he was ready to take up the pursuit. When he did not discover me in sight within the

valley he dashed, hissing into the rank vegetation of the swamp and that was the last I saw of him.

I HASTENED TO THE CLIFF EDGE ABOVE JA AND helped him to a secure footing. He would not listen

"I had given you up for lost when you tumbled into the Mahar temple," he said, "for not even I could save

you from their clutches, and you may imagine my surprise when on seeing a canoe dragged up upon the

"I immediately set out in search of you, knowing as I did that you must be entirely unarmed and defenseless

against the many dangers which lurk upon the mainland both in the form of savage beasts and reptiles, and

men as well. I had no difficulty in tracking you to this point. It is well that I arrived when I did."

"But why did you do it?" I asked, puzzled at this show of friendship on the part of a man of another world

"You saved my life," he replied; "from that moment it became my duty to protect and befriend you. I would

have been no true Mezop had I evaded my plain duty; but it was a pleasure in this instance for I like you. I

wish that you would come and live with me. You shall become a member of my tribe. Among us there is the

best of hunting and fishing, and you shall have, to choose a mate from, the most beautiful girls of Pellucidar.

I told him about Perry then, and Dian the Beautiful, and how my duty was to them first. Afterward I should

"Oh, that is easy, my friend," he said. "You need merely to come to the foot of the highest peak of the

Mountains of the Clouds. There you will find a river which flows into the Lural Az. Directly opposite the

mouth of the river you will see three large islands far out, so far that they are barely discernible, the one to the

extreme left as you face them from the mouth of the river is Anoroc, where I rule the tribe of Anoroc."

"But how am I to find the Mountains of the Clouds?" I asked. "Men say that they are visible from half

"How large is Pellucidar?" I asked, wondering what sort of theory these primitive men had concerning the

"The Mahars say it is round, like the inside of a tola shell," he answered, "but that is ridiculous, since, were it

true, we should fall back were we to travel far in any direction, and all the waters of Pellucidar would run to

one spot and drown us. No, Pellucidar is quite flat and extends no man knows how far in all directions. At the

edges, so my ancestors have reported and handed down to me, is a great wall that prevents the earth and

waters from escaping over into the burning sea whereon Pellucidar floats; but I never have been so far from

Anoroc as to have seen this wall with my own eyes. However, it is quite reasonable to believe that this is true,

whereas there is no reason at all in the foolish belief of the Mahars. According to them Pellucidarians who

live upon the opposite side walk always with their heads pointed downward!" and Ja laughed uproariously at

It was plain to see that the human folk of this inner world had not advanced far in learning, and the thought

that the ugly Mahars had so outstripped them was a very pathetic one indeed. I wondered how many ages it

would take to lift these people out of their ignorance even were it given to Perry and me to attempt it.

Possibly we would be killed for our pains as were those men of the outer world who dared challenge the

dense ignorance and superstitions of the earth's younger days. But it was worth the effort if the opportunity

And then it occurred to me that here was an opportunitythat I might make a small beginning upon Ja, who

"Ja," I said, "what would you say were I to tell you that in so far as the Mahars' theory of the shape of

"But, Ja," I insisted, "if their theory is incorrect how do you account for the fact that I was able to pass

through the earth from the outer crust to Pellucidar. If your theory is correct all is a sea of flame beneath us,

where in no peoples could exist, and yet I come from a great world that is covered with human beings, and

"You live upon the under side of Pellucidar, and walk always with your head pointed downward?" he scoffed.

I attempted to explain the force of gravity to him, and by the means of the dropped fruit to illustrate how

impossible it would be for a body to fall off the earth under any circumstances. He listened so intently that I

thought I had made an impression, and started the train of thought that would lead him to a partial

"Your own illustration," he said finally, "proves the falsity of your theory." He dropped a fruit from his hand

to the ground. "See," he said, "without support even this tiny fruit falls until it strikes something that stops it.

If Pellucidar were not supported upon the flaming sea it too would fall as the fruit fallsyou have proven it

It seemed a hopeless job and I gave it up, temporarily at least, for when I contemplated the necessity

explanation of our solar system and the universe I realized how futile it would be to attempt to picture to Ja or

any other Pellucidarian the sun, the moon, the planets, and the countless stars. Those born within the inner

world could no more conceive of such things than can we of the outer crust reduce to factors appreciable to

"Well, Ja," I laughed, "whether we be walking with our feet up or down, here we are, and the question of

greatest importance is not so much where we came from as where we are going now. For my part I wish that

you could guide me to Phutra where I may give myself up to the Mahars once more that my friends and I may

work out the plan of escape which the Sagoths interrupted when they gathered us together and drove us to the

arena to witness the punishment of the slaves who killed the guardsman. I wish now that I had not left the

arena for by this time my friends and I might have made good our escape, whereas this delay may mean the

wrecking of all our plans, which depended for their consummation upon the continued sleep of the three

"My friends are there," I replied, "the only friends I have in Pellucidar, except yourself. What else may I do

"It is what a brave man and a good friend should do," he said; "yet it seems most foolish, for the Mahars will

most certainly condemn you to death for running away, and so you will be accomplishing nothing for your

friends by returning. Never in all my life have I heard of a prisoner returning to the Mahars of his own free

will. There are but few who escape them, though some do, and these would rather die than be recaptured."

"I see no other way, Ja," I said, "though I can assure you that I would rather go to Sheol after Perry than to

Phutra. However, Perry is much too pious to make the probability at all great that I should ever be called

Ja asked me what Sheol was, and when I explained, as best I could, he said, "You are speaking of Molop Az,

the flaming sea upon which Pellucidar floats. All the dead who are buried in the ground go there. Piece by

piece they are carried down to Molop Az by the little demons who dwell there. We know this because when

graves are opened we find that the bodies have been partially or entirely borne off. That is why we of Anoroc

place our dead in high trees where the birds may find them and bear them bit by bit to the Dead World above

the Land of Awful Shadow. If we kill an enemy we place his body in the ground that it may go to Molop Az."

As we talked we had been walking up the canyon down which I had come to the great ocean and the sithic. Ja

did his best to dissuade me from returning to Phutra, but when he saw that I was determined to do so, he

consented to guide me to a point from which I could see the plain where lay the city. To my surprise the

distance was but short from the beach where I had again met Ja. It was evident that I had spent much time

following the windings of a tortuous canon, while just beyond the ridge lay the city of Phutra near to which I

As we topped the ridge and saw the granite gate towers dotting the flowered plain at our feet Ja made a final

effort to persuade me to abandon my mad purpose and return with him to Anoroc, but I was firm in my

resolve, and at last he bid me goodbye, assured in his own mind that he was looking upon me for the last

I was sorry to part with Ja, for I had come to like him very much indeed. With his hidden city upon the island

of Anoroc as a base, and his savage warriors as escort Perry and I could have accomplished much in the line

of exploration, and I hoped that were we successful in our effort to escape we might return to Anoroc later.

There was, however, one great thing to be accomplished firstat least it was the great thing to methe

finding of Dian the Beautiful. I wanted to make amends for the affront I had put upon her in my ignorance,

Down the hillside I made my way into the gorgeous field of flowers, and then across the rolling land toward

the shadowless columns that guard the ways to buried Phutra. At a quartermile from the nearest entrance I

was discovered by the Sagoth guard, and in an instant four of the gorillamen were dashing toward me.

Though they brandished their long spears and yelled like wild Comanches I paid not the slightest attention to

them, walking quietly toward them as though unaware of their existence. My manner had the effect upon

them that I had hoped, and as we came quite near together they ceased their savage shouting. It was evident

that they had expected me to turn and flee at sight of them, thus presenting that which they most enjoyed, a

"What do you here?" shouted one, and then as he recognized me, "Ho! It is the slave who claims to be from

another worldhe who escaped when the thag ran amuck within the amphitheater. But why do you return,

"I did not 'escape'," I replied. "I but ran away to avoid the thag, as did others, and coming into a long passage

I became confused and lost my way in the foothills beyond Phutra. Only now have I found my way back."

"And you come of your free will back to Phutra!" exclaimed one of the guardsmen.

"Where else might I go?" I asked. "I am a stranger within Pellucidar and know no other where than Phutra.

Why should I not desire to be in Phutra? Am I not well fed and well treated? Am I not happy? What better lot

The Sagoths scratched their heads. This was a new one on them, and so being stupid brutes they took me to

their masters whom they felt would be better fitted to solve the riddle of my return, for riddle they still

I had spoken to the Sagoths as I had for the purpose of throwing them off the scent of my purposed attempt at

escape. If they thought that I was so satisfied with my lot within Phutra that I would voluntarily return when I

had once had so excellent an opportunity to escape, they would never for an instant imagine that I could be

So they led me before a slimy Mahar who clung to a slimy rock within the large room that was the thing's

office. With cold, reptilian eyes the creature seemed to bore through the thin veneer of my deceit and read my

inmost thoughts. It heeded the story which the Sagoths told of my return to Phutra, watching the

gorillamen's lips and fingers during the recital. Then it questioned me through one of the Sagoths.

"You say that you returned to Phutra of your own free will, because you think yourself better off here than

elsewheredo you not know that you may be the next chosen to give up your life in the interests of the

wonderful scientific investigations that our learned ones are continually occupied with?"

"I could be in no more danger here," I said, "than naked and unarmed in the savage jungles or upon the lonely

plains of Pellucidar. I was fortunate, I think, to return to Phutra at all. As it was I barely escaped death within

the jaws of a huge sithic. No, I am sure that I am safer in the hands of intelligent creatures such as rule

Phutra. At least such would be the case in my own world, where human beings like myself rule supreme.

There the higher races of man extend protection and hospitality to the stranger within their gates, and being a

The Mahar looked at me in silence for some time after I ceased speaking and the Sagoth had translated my

words to his master. The creature seemed deep in thought. Presently he communicated some message to the

Sagoth. The latter turned, and motioning me to follow him, left the presence of the reptile. Behind and on

"You are to appear before the learned ones who will question you regarding this strange world from which

"Do you happen to know," he asked, "what the Mahars do to slaves who lie to them?"

"No," I replied, "nor does it interest me, as I have no intention of lying to the Mahars."

"Then be careful that you don't repeat the impossible tale you told Soltoto just nowanother world,

"But it is the truth," I insisted. "From where else then did I come? I am not of Pellucidar. Anyone with half an

"It is your misfortune then," he remarked dryly, "that you may not be judged by one with but half an eye."

"What will they do with me," I asked, "if they do not have a mind to believe me?"

"You may be sentenced to the arena, or go to the pits to be used in research work by the learned ones," he

"No one knows except the Mahars and those who go to the pits with them, but as the latter never return, their

knowledge does them but little good. It is said that the learned ones cut up their subjects while they are yet

alive, thus learning many useful things. However I should not imagine that it would prove very useful to him

who was being cut up; but of course this is all but conjecture. The chances are that ere long you will know

much more about it than I," and he grinned as he spoke. The Sagoths have a welldeveloped sense of humor.

"You saw the two who met the tarag and the thag the time that you escaped?" he said.

"Your end in the arena would be similar to what was intended for them," he explained, "though of course the

"What becomes of those who go below with the learned ones I do not know, nor does any other," he replied;

"but those who go to the arena may come out alive and thus regain their liberty, as did the two whom you

"It is the custom of the Mahars to liberate those who remain alive within the arena after the beasts depart or

are killed. Thus it has happened that several mighty warriors from far distant lands, whom we have captured

on our slave raids, have battled the brutes turned in upon them and slain them, thereby winning their freedom.

In the instance which you witnessed the beasts killed each other, but the result was the samethe man and

woman were liberated, furnished with weapons, and started on their homeward journey. Upon the left

shoulder of each a mark was burnedthe mark of the Maharswhich will forever protect these two from

"There is a slender chance for me then if I be sent to the arena, and none at all if the learned ones drag me to

"You are quite right," he replied; "but do not felicitate yourself too quickly should you be sent to the arena,

To my surprise they returned me to the same building in which I had been confined with Perry and Ghak

"He will doubtless be called before the investigators shortly," said he who had brought me back," so have him

The guards in whose hands I now found myself, upon hearing that I had returned of my own volition to

Phutra evidently felt that it would be safe to give me liberty within the building as had been the custom

before I had escaped, and so I was told to return to whatever duty had been mine formerly.

My first act was to hunt up Perry; whom I found poring as usual over the great tomes that he was supposed to

As I entered the room he glanced up and nodded pleasantly to me, only to resume his work as though I had

never been away at all. I was both astonished and hurt at his indifference. And to think that I was risking

"Are you crazy, Perry? Do you mean to say that you have not missed me since that time we were separated

"'That time'," he repeated. "Why man, I have but just returned from the arena! You reached here almost as

soon as I. Had you been much later I should indeed have been worried, and as it is I had intended asking you

about how you escaped the beast as soon as I had completed the translation of this most interesting passage."

"Perry, you ARE mad," I exclaimed. "Why, the Lord only knows how long I have been away. I have been to

other lands, discovered a new race of humans within Pellucidar, seen the Mahars at their worship in their

hidden temple, and barely escaped with my life from them and from a great labyrinthodon that I met

afterward, following my long and tedious wanderings across an unknown world. I must have been away for

months, Perry, and now you barely look up from your work when I return and insist that we have been

separated but a moment. Is that any way to treat a friend? I'm surprised at you, Perry, and if I'd thought for a

moment that you cared no more for me than this I should not have returned to chance death at the hands of

The old man looked at me for a long time before he spoke. There was a puzzled expression upon his wrinkled

"David, my boy," he said, "how could you for a moment doubt my love for you? There is something strange

here that I cannot understand. I know that I am not mad, and I am equally sure that you are not; but how in

the world are we to account for the strange hallucinations that each of us seems to harbor relative to the

passage of time since last we saw each other. You are positive that months have gone by, while to me it

seems equally certain that not more than an hour ago I sat beside you in the amphitheater. Can it be that both

of us are right and at the same time both are wrong? First tell me what time is, and then maybe I can solve our

"Yes," continued the old man, "we are both right. To me, bent over my book here, there has been no lapse of

time. I have done little or nothing to waste my energies and so have required neither food nor sleep, but you,

on the contrary, have walked and fought and wasted strength and tissue which must needs be rebuilt by

nutriment and food, and so, having eaten and slept many times since last you saw me you naturally measure

the lapse of time largely by these acts. As a matter of fact, David, I am rapidly coming to the conviction that

there is no such thing as timesurely there can be no time here within Pellucidar, where there are no means

for measuring or recording time. Why, the Mahars themselves take no account of such a thing as time. I find

here in all their literary works but a single tense, the present. There seems to be neither past nor future with

them. Of course it is impossible for our outerearthly minds to grasp such a condition, but our recent

It was too big a subject for me, and I said so, but Perry seemed to enjoy nothing better than speculating upon

it, and after listening with interest to my account of the adventures through which I had passed he returned

once more to the subject, which he was enlarging upon with considerable fluency when he was interrupted by

"Come!" commanded the intruder, beckoning to me. "The investigators would speak with you."

"Goodbye, Perry!" I said, clasping the old man's hand. "There may be nothing but the present and no such

thing as time, but I feel that I am about to take a trip into the hereafter from which I shall never return. If you

and Ghak should manage to escape I want you to promise me that you will find Dian the Beautiful and tell

her that with my last words I asked her forgiveness for the unintentional affront I put upon her, and that my

"I cannot believe but that you will return, David," he said. "It would be awful to think of living out the

balance of my life without you among these hateful and repulsive creatures. If you are taken away I shall

never escape, for I feel that I am as well off here as I should be anywhere within this buried world.

Goodbye, my boy, goodbye!" and then his old voice faltered and broke, and as he hid his face in his hands

the Sagoth guardsman grasped me roughly by the shoulder and hustled me from the chamber.

A MOMENT LATER I WAS STANDING BEFORE A DOZEN Maharsthe social investigators of Phutra.

They asked me many questions, through a Sagoth interpreter. I answered them all truthfully. They seemed

particularly interested in my account of the outer earth and the strange vehicle which had brought Perry and

me to Pellucidar. I thought that I had convinced them, and after they had sat in silence for a long time

During this apparent silence they were debating through the medium of strange, unspoken language the

merits of my tale. At last the head of the tribunal communicated the result of their conference to the officer in

"Come," he said to me, "you are sentenced to the experimental pits for having dared to insult the intelligence

of the mighty ones with the ridiculous tale you have had the temerity to unfold to them."

"Believe you!" he laughed. "Do you mean to say that you expected any one to believe so impossible a lie?"

It was hopeless, and so I walked in silence beside my guard down through the dark corridors and runways

toward my awful doom. At a low level we came upon a number of lighted chambers in which we saw many

Mahars engaged in various occupations. To one of these chambers my guard escorted me, and before leaving

they chained me to a side wall. There were other humans similarly chained. Upon a long table lay a victim

even as I was ushered into the room. Several Mahars stood about the poor creature holding him down so that

he could not move. Another, grasping a sharp knife with her threetoed fore foot, was laying open the

victim's chest and abdomen. No anesthetic had been administered and the shrieks and groans of the tortured

man were terrible to hear. This, indeed, was vivisection with a vengeance. Cold sweat broke out upon me as I

realized that soon my turn would come. And to think that where there was no such thing as time I might

easily imagine that my suffering was enduring for months before death finally released me!

The Mahars had paid not the slightest attention to me as I had been brought into the room. So deeply

immersed were they in their work that I am sure they did not even know that the Sagoths had entered with

me. The door was close by. Would that I could reach it! But those heavy chains precluded any such

possibility. I looked about for some means of escape from my bonds. Upon the floor between me and the

Mahars lay a tiny surgical instrument which one of them must have dropped. It looked not unlike a

buttonhook, but was much smaller, and its point was sharpened. A hundred times in my boyhood days had I

picked locks with a buttonhook. Could I but reach that little bit of polished steel I might yet effect at least a

Crawling to the limit of my chain, I found that by reaching one hand as far out as I could my fingers still fell

an inch short of the coveted instrument. It was tantalizing! Stretch every fiber of my being as I would, I could

At last I turned about and extended one foot toward the object. My heart came to my throat! I could just touch

the thing! But suppose that in my effort to drag it toward me I should accidentally shove it still farther away

and thus entirely out of reach! Cold sweat broke out upon me from every pore. Slowly and cautiously I made

the effort. My toes dropped upon the cold metal. Gradually I worked it toward me until I felt that it was

within reach of my hand and a moment later I had turned about and the precious thing was in my grasp.

Assiduously I fell to work upon the Mahar lock that held my chain. It was pitifully simple. A child might

have picked it, and a moment later I was free. The Mahars were now evidently completing their work at the

table. One already turned away and was examining other victims, evidently with the intention of selecting the

Those at the table had their backs toward me. But for the creature walking toward us I might have escaped

that moment. Slowly the thing approached me, when its attention was attracted by a huge slave chained a few

yards to my right. Here the reptile stopped and commenced to go over the poor devil carefully, and as it did

so its back turned toward me for an instant, and in that instant I gave two mighty leaps that carried me out of

the chamber into the corridor beyond, down which I raced with all the speed I could command.

Where I was, or whither I was going, I knew not. My only thought was to place as much distance as possible

Presently I reduced my speed to a brisk walk, and later realizing the danger of running into some new

predicament, were I not careful, I moved still more slowly and cautiously. After a time I came to a passage

that seemed in some mysterious way familiar to me, and presently, chancing to glance within a chamber

which led from the corridor I saw three Mahars curled up in slumber upon a bed of skins. I could have

shouted aloud in joy and relief. It was the same corridor and the same Mahars that I had intended to have lead

so important a role in our escape from Phutra. Providence had indeed been kind to me, for the reptiles still

My one great danger now lay in returning to the upper levels in search of Perry and Ghak, but there was

nothing else to be done, and so I hastened upward. When I came to the frequented portions of the building, I

found a large burden of skins in a corner and these I lifted to my head, carrying them in such a way that ends

and corners fell down about my shoulders completely hiding my face. Thus disguised I found Perry and Ghak

Both were glad to see me, it was needless to say, though of course they had known nothing of the fate that

had been meted out to me by my judges. It was decided that no time should now be lost before attempting to

put our plan of escape to the test, as I could not hope to remain hidden from the Sagoths long, nor could I

forever carry that bale of skins about upon my head without arousing suspicion. However it seemed likely

that it would carry me once more safely through the crowded passages and chambers of the upper levels, and

so I set out with Perry and Ghakthe stench of the illy cured pelts fairly choking me.

Together we repaired to the first tier of corridors beneath the main floor of the buildings, and here Perry and

Ghak halted to await me. The buildings are cut out of the solid limestone formation. There is nothing at all

remarkable about their architecture. The rooms are sometimes rectangular, sometimes circular, and again oval

in shape. The corridors which connect them are narrow and not always straight. The chambers are lighted by

diffused sunlight reflected through tubes similar to those by which the avenues are lighted. The lower the

tiers of chambers, the darker. Most of the corridors are entirely unlighted. The Mahars can see quite well in

Down to the main floor we encountered many Mahars, Sagoths, and slaves; but no attention was paid to us as

we had become a part of the domestic life of the building. There was but a single entrance leading from the

place into the avenue and this was well guarded by Sagothsthis doorway alone were we forbidden to pass.

It is true that we were not supposed to enter the deeper corridors and apartments except on special occasions

when we were instructed to do so; but as we were considered a lower order without intelligence there was

little reason to fear that we could accomplish any harm by so doing, and so we were not hindered as we

Wrapped in a skin I carried three swords, and the two bows, and the arrows which Perry and I had fashioned.

As many slaves bore skinwrapped burdens to and fro my load attracted no comment. Where I left Ghak and

Perry there were no other creatures in sight, and so I withdrew one sword from the package, and leaving the

Having come to the apartment in which the three Mahars slept I entered silently on tiptoe, forgetting that the

creatures were without the sense of hearing. With a quick thrust through the heart I disposed of the first but

my second thrust was not so fortunate, so that before I could kill the next of my victims it had hurled itself

against the third, who sprang quickly up, facing me with widedistended jaws. But fighting is not the

occupation which the race of Mahars loves, and when the thing saw that I already had dispatched two of its

companions, and that my sword was red with their blood, it made a dash to escape me. But I was too quick

for it, and so, half hopping, half flying, it scurried down another corridor with me close upon its heels.

Its escape meant the utter ruin of our plan, and in all probability my instant death. This thought lent wings to

my feet; but even at my best I could do no more than hold my own with the leaping thing before me.

Of a sudden it turned into an apartment on the right of the corridor, and an instant later as I rushed in I found

myself facing two of the Mahars. The one who had been there when we entered had been occupied with a

number of metal vessels, into which had been put powders and liquids as I judged from the array of flasks

standing about upon the bench where it had been working. In an instant I realized what I had stumbled upon.

It was the very room for the finding of which Perry had given me minute directions. It was the buried

chamber in which was hidden the Great Secret of the race of Mahars. And on the bench beside the flasks lay

the skinbound book which held the only copy of the thing I was to have sought, after dispatching the three

There was no exit from the room other than the doorway in which I now stood facing the two frightful

reptiles. Cornered, I knew that they would fight like demons, and they were well equipped to fight if fight

they must. Together they launched themselves upon me, and though I ran one of them through the heart on

the instant, the other fastened its gleaming fangs about my sword arm above the elbow, and then with her

sharp talons commenced to rake me about the body, evidently intent upon disemboweling me. I saw that it

was useless to hope that I might release my arm from that powerful, viselike grip which seemed to be

severing my arm from my body. The pain I suffered was intense, but it only served to spur me to greater

Back and forth across the floor we struggledthe Mahar dealing me terrific, cutting blows with her fore feet,

while I attempted to protect my body with my left hand, at the same time watching for an opportunity to

transfer my blade from my now useless sword hand to its rapidly weakening mate. At last I was successful,

and with what seemed to me my last ounce of strength I ran the blade through the ugly body of my foe.

Soundless, as it had fought, it died, and though weak from pain and loss of blood, it was with an emotion of

triumphant pride that I stepped across its convulsively stiffening corpse to snatch up the most potent secret of

a world. A single glance assured me it was the very thing that Perry had described to me.

And as I grasped it did I think of what it meant to the human race of Pellucidardid there flash through my

mind the thought that countless generations of my own kind yet unborn would have reason to worship me for

the thing that I had accomplished for them? I did not. I thought of a beautiful oval face, gazing out of limpid

eyes, through a waving mass of jetblack hair. I thought of red, red lips, Godmade for kissing. And of a

sudden, apropos of nothing, standing there alone in the secret chamber of the Mahars of Pellucidar, I realized

FOR AN INSTANT I STOOD THERE THINKING OF HER, and then, with a sigh, I tucked the book in the

thong that supported my loin cloth, and turned to leave the apartment. At the bottom of the corridor which

leads aloft from the lower chambers I whistled in accordance with the prearranged signal which was to

announce to Perry and Ghak that I had been successful. A moment later they stood beside me, and to my

"He joined us," explained Perry, "and would not be denied. The fellow is a fox. He scents escape, and rather

than be thwarted of our chance now I told him that I would bring him to you, and let you decide whether he

I had no love for Hooja, and no confidence in him. I was sure that if he thought it would profit him he would

betray us; but I saw no way out of it now, and the fact that I had killed four Mahars instead of only the three I

had expected to, made it possible to include the fellow in our scheme of escape.

"Very well," I said, "you may come with us, Hooja; but at the first intimation of treachery I shall run my

Some time later we had removed the skins from the four Mahars, and so succeeded in crawling inside of them

ourselves that there seemed an excellent chance for us to pass unnoticed from Phutra. It was not an easy thing

to fasten the hides together where we had split them along the belly to remove them from their carcasses, but

by remaining out until the others had all been sewed in with my help, and then leaving an aperture in the

breast of Perry's skin through which he could pass his hands to sew me up, we were enabled to accomplish

our design to really much better purpose than I had hoped. We managed to keep the heads erect by passing

our swords up through the necks, and by the same means were enabled to move them about in a lifelike

manner. We had our greatest difficulty with the webbed feet, but even that problem was finally solved, so that

when we moved about we did so quite naturally. Tiny holes punctured in the baggy throats into which our

Thus we started up toward the main floor of the building. Ghak headed the strange procession, then came

Perry, followed by Hooja, while I brought up the rear, after admonishing Hooja that I had so arranged my

sword that I could thrust it through the head of my disguise into his vitals were he to show any indication of

As the noise of hurrying feet warned me that we were entering the busy corridors of the main level, my heart

came up into my mouth. It is with no sense of shame that I admit that I was frightenednever before in my

life, nor since, did I experience any such agony of soulsearing fear and suspense as enveloped me. If it be

Slowly, after the manner of locomotion habitual to the Mahars, when they are not using their wings, we crept

through throngs of busy slaves, Sagoths, and Mahars. After what seemed an eternity we reached the outer

door which leads into the main avenue of Phutra. Many Sagoths loitered near the opening. They glanced at

Ghak as he padded between them. Then Perry passed, and then Hooja. Now it was my turn, and then in a

sudden fit of freezing terror I realized that the warm blood from my wounded arm was trickling down

through the dead foot of the Mahar skin I wore and leaving its telltale mark upon the pavement, for I saw a

The guard stepped before me and pointing to my bleeding foot spoke to me in the sign language which these

two races employ as a means of communication. Even had I known what he was saying I could not have

replied with the dead thing that covered me. I once had seen a great Mahar freeze a presumptuous Sagoth

with a look. It seemed my only hope, and so I tried it. Stopping in my tracks I moved my sword so that it

made the dead head appear to turn inquiring eyes upon the gorillaman. For a long moment I stood perfectly

still, eyeing the fellow with those dead eyes. Then I lowered the head and started slowly on. For a moment all

hung in the balance, but before I touched him the guard stepped to one side, and I passed on out into the

On we went up the broad street, but now we were safe for the very numbers of our enemies that surrounded

us on all sides. Fortunately, there was a great concourse of Mahars repairing to the shallow lake which lies a

mile or more from the city. They go there to indulge their amphibian proclivities in diving for small fish, and

enjoying the cool depths of the water. It is a freshwater lake, shallow, and free from the larger reptiles which

make the use of the great seas of Pellucidar impossible for any but their own kind.

In the thick of the crowd we passed up the steps and out onto the plain. For some distance Ghak remained

with the stream that was traveling toward the lake, but finally, at the bottom of a little gully he halted, and

there we remained until all had passed and we were alone. Then, still in our disguises, we set off directly

The heat of the vertical rays of the sun was fast making our horrible prisons unbearable, so that after passing

a low divide, and entering a sheltering forest, we finally discarded the Mahar skins that had brought us thus

I shall not weary you with the details of that bitter and galling flight. How we traveled at a dogged run until

we dropped in our tracks. How we were beset by strange and terrible beasts. How we barely escaped the cruel

fangs of lions and tigers the size of which would dwarf into pitiful insignificance the greatest felines of the

On and on we raced, our one thought to put as much distance between ourselves and Phutra as possible. Ghak

was leading us to his own landthe land of Sari. No sign of pursuit had developed, and yet we were sure

that somewhere behind us relentless Sagoths were dogging our tracks. Ghak said they never failed to hunt

down their quarry until they had captured it or themselves been turned back by a superior force.

Our only hope, he said, lay in reaching his tribe which was quite strong enough in their mountain fastness to

At last, after what seemed months, and may, I now realize, have been years, we came in sight of the dun

escarpment which buttressed the foothills of Sari. At almost the same instant, Hooja, who looked ever quite

as much behind as before, announced that he could see a body of men far behind us topping a low ridge in

"We may," he replied; "but you will find that the Sagoths can move with incredible swiftness, and as they are

almost tireless they are doubtless much fresher than we. Then" he paused, glancing at Perry.

I knew what he meant. The old man was exhausted. For much of the period of our flight either Ghak or I had

half supported him on the march. With such a handicap, less fleet pursuers than the Sagoths might easily

"You and Hooja go on ahead," I said. "Perry and I will make it if we are able. We cannot travel as rapidly as

you two, and there is no reason why all should be lost because of that. It can't be helpedwe have simply to

"I will not desert a companion," was Ghak's simple reply. I hadn't known that this great, hairy, primeval man

had any such nobility of character stowed away inside him. I had always liked him, but now to my liking was

But still I urged him to go on ahead, insisting that if he could reach his people he might be able to bring out a

No, he wouldn't leave us, and that was all there was to it, but he suggested that Hooja might hurry on and

warn the Sarians of the king's danger. It didn't require much urging to start Hoojathe naked idea was

enough to send him leaping on ahead of us into the foothills which we now had reached.

Perry realized that he was jeopardizing Ghak's life and mine and the old fellow fairly begged us to go on

without him, although I knew that he was suffering a perfect anguish of terror at the thought of falling into

the hands of the Sagoths. Ghak finally solved the problem, in part, by lifting Perry in his powerful arms and

carrying him. While the act cut down Ghak's speed he still could travel faster thus than when half supporting

THE SAGOTHS WERE GAINING ON US RAPIDLY, FOR once they had sighted us they had greatly

increased their speed. On and on we stumbled up the narrow canyon that Ghak had chosen to approach the

heights of Sari. On either side rose precipitous cliffs of gorgeous, particolored rock, while beneath our feet a

thick mountain grass formed a soft and noiseless carpet. Since we had entered the canyon we had had no

glimpse of our pursuers, and I was commencing to hope that they had lost our trail and that we would reach

the now rapidly nearing cliffs in time to scale them before we should be overtaken.

Ahead we neither saw nor heard any sign which might betoken the success of Hooja's mission. By now he

should have reached the outposts of the Sarians, and we should at least hear the savage cries of the tribesmen

as they swarmed to arms in answer to their king's appeal for succor. In another moment the frowning cliffs

ahead should be black with primeval warriors. But nothing of the kind happenedas a matter of fact the Sly

One had betrayed us. At the moment that we expected to see Sarian spearmen charging to our relief at

Hooja's back, the craven traitor was sneaking around the outskirts of the nearest Sarian village, that he might

come up from the other side when it was too late to save us, claiming that he had become lost among the

Hooja still harbored ill will against me because of the blow I had struck in Dian's protection, and his

malevolent spirit was equal to sacrificing us all that he might be revenged upon me.

As we drew nearer the barrier cliffs and no sign of rescuing Sarians appeared Ghak became both angry and

alarmed, and presently as the sound of rapidly approaching pursuit fell upon our ears, he called to me over his

A backward glance gave me a glimpse of the first of the Sagoths at the far end of a considerable stretch of

canyon through which we had just passed, and then a sudden turning shut the ugly creature from my view;

but the loud howl of triumphant rage which rose behind us was evidence that the gorillaman had sighted us.

Again the canyon veered sharply to the left, but to the right another branch ran on at a lesser deviation from

the general direction, so that appeared more like the main canyon than the lefthand branch. The Sagoths were

now not over two hundred and fifty yards behind us, and I saw that it was hopeless for us to expect to escape

other than by a ruse. There was a bare chance of saving Ghak and Perry, and as I reached the branching of the

Pausing there I waited until the foremost Sagoth hove into sight. Ghak and Perry had disappeared around a

bend in the lefthand canyon, and as the Sagoth's savage yell announced that he had seen me I turned and

fled up the righthand branch. My ruse was successful, and the entire party of manhunters raced headlong

Running has never been my particular athletic forte, and now when my very life depended upon fleetness of

foot I cannot say that I ran any better than on the occasions when my pitiful base running had called down

upon my head the rooter's raucous and reproachful cries of "Ice Wagon," and "Call a cab."

The Sagoths were gaining on me rapidly. There was one in particular, fleeter than his fellows, who was

perilously close. The canyon had become a rocky slit, rising roughly at a steep angle toward what seemed a

pass between two abutting peaks. What lay beyond I could not even guesspossibly a sheer drop of

hundreds of feet into the corresponding valley upon the other side. Could it be that I had plunged into a

Realizing that I could not hope to outdistance the Sagoths to the top of the canyon I had determined to risk all

in an attempt to check them temporarily, and to this end had unslung my rudely made bow and plucked an

arrow from the skin quiver which hung behind my shoulder. As I fitted the shaft with my right hand I stopped

In the world of my birth I never had drawn a shaft, but since our escape from Phutra I had kept the party

supplied with small game by means of my arrows, and so, through necessity, had developed a fair degree of

accuracy. During our flight from Phutra I had restrung my bow with a piece of heavy gut taken from a huge

tiger which Ghak and I had worried and finally dispatched with arrows, spear, and sword. The hard wood of

the bow was extremely tough and this, with the strength and elasticity of my new string, gave me unwonted

Never had I greater need of steady nerves than thennever were my nerves and muscles under better

control. I sighted as carefully and deliberately as though at a straw target. The Sagoth had never before seen a

bow and arrow, but of a sudden it must have swept over his dull intellect that the thing I held toward him was

some sort of engine of destruction, for he too came to a halt, simultaneously swinging his hatchet for a throw.

It is one of the many methods in which they employ this weapon, and the accuracy of aim which they

achieve, even under the most unfavorable circumstances, is little short of miraculous.

My shaft was drawn back its full lengthmy eye had centered its sharp point upon the left breast of my

adversary; and then he launched his hatchet and I released my arrow. At the instant that our missiles flew I

leaped to one side, but the Sagoth sprang forward to follow up his attack with a spear thrust. I felt the swish

of the hatchet at it grazed my head, and at the same instant my shaft pierced the Sagoth's savage heart, and

with a single groan he lunged almost at my feetstone dead. Close behind him were two morefifty yards

perhapsbut the distance gave me time to snatch up the dead guardsman's shield, for the close call his

hatchet had just given me had borne in upon me the urgent need I had for one. Those which I had purloined at

Phutra we had not been able to bring along because their size precluded our concealing them within the skins

With the shield slipped well up on my left arm I let fly with another arrow, which brought down a second

Sagoth, and then as his fellow's hatchet sped toward me I caught it upon the shield, and fitted another shaft

for him; but he did not wait to receive it. Instead, he turned and retreated toward the main body of

Once more I took up my flight, nor were the Sagoths apparently overanxious to press their pursuit so closely

as before. Unmolested I reached the top of the canyon where I found a sheer drop of two or three hundred

feet to the bottom of a rocky chasm; but on the left a narrow ledge rounded the shoulder of the overhanging

cliff. Along this I advanced, and at a sudden turning, a few yards beyond the canyon's end, the path widened,

and at my left I saw the opening to a large cave. Before, the ledge continued until it passed from sight about

Here, I felt, I could defy an army, for but a single foeman could advance upon me at a time, nor could he

know that I was awaiting him until he came full upon me around the corner of the turn. About me lay

scattered stones crumbled from the cliff above. They were of various sizes and shapes, but enough were of

handy dimensions for use as ammunition in lieu of my precious arrows. Gathering a number of stones into a

As I stood there, tense and silent, listening for the first faint sound that should announce the approach of my

enemies, a slight noise from within the cave's black depths attracted my attention. It might have been

produced by the moving of the great body of some huge beast rising from the rock floor of its lair. At almost

the same instant I thought that I caught the scraping of hide sandals upon the ledge beyond the turn. For the

And then from the inky blackness at my right I saw two flaming eyes glaring into mine. They were on a level

that was over two feet above my head. It is true that the beast who owned them might be standing upon a

ledge within the cave, or that it might be rearing up upon its hind legs; but I had seen enough of the monsters

of Pellucidar to know that I might be facing some new and frightful Titan whose dimensions and ferocity

Whatever it was, it was coming slowly toward the entrance of the cave, and now, deep and forbidding, it

uttered a low and ominous growl. I waited no longer to dispute possession of the ledge with the thing which

owned that voice. The noise had not been loudI doubt if the Sagoths heard it at allbut the suggestion of

latent possibilities behind it was such that I knew it would only emanate from a gigantic and ferocious beast.

As I backed along the ledge I soon was past the mouth of the cave, where I no longer could see those fearful

flaming eyes, but an instant later I caught sight of the fiendish face of a Sagoth as it warily advanced beyond

the cliff's turn on the far side of the cave's mouth. As the fellow saw me he leaped along the ledge in pursuit,

and after him came as many of his companions as could crowd upon each other's heels. At the same time the

beast emerged from the cave, so that he and the Sagoths came face to face upon that narrow ledge.

The thing was an enormous cave bear, rearing its colossal bulk fully eight feet at the shoulder, while from the

tip of its nose to the end of its stubby tail it was fully twelve feet in length. As it sighted the Sagoths it

emitted a most frightful roar, and with open mouth charged full upon them. With a cry of terror the foremost

gorillaman turned to escape, but behind him he ran full upon his onrushing companions.

The horror of the following seconds is indescribable. The Sagoth nearest the cave bear, finding his escape

blocked, turned and leaped deliberately to an awful death upon the jagged rocks three hundred feet below.

Then those giant jaws reached out and gathered in the nextthere was a sickening sound of crushing bones,

and the mangled corpse was dropped over the cliff's edge. Nor did the mighty beast even pause in his steady

Shrieking Sagoths were now leaping madly over the precipice to escape him, and the last I saw he rounded

the turn still pursuing the demoralized remnant of the man hunters. For a long time I could hear the horrid

roaring of the brute intermingled with the screams and shrieks of his victims, until finally the awful sounds

Later I learned from Ghak, who had finally come to his tribesmen and returned with a party to rescue me, that

the ryth, as it is called, pursued the Sagoths until it had exterminated the entire band. Ghak was, of course,

positive that I had fallen prey to the terrible creature, which, within Pellucidar, is truly the king of beasts.

Not caring to venture back into the canyon, where I might fall prey either to the cave bear or the Sagoths I

continued on along the ledge, believing that by following around the mountain I could reach the land of Sari

from another direction. But I evidently became confused by the twisting and turning of the canyons and

gullies, for I did not come to the land of Sari then, nor for a long time thereafter.

WITH NO HEAVENLY GUIDE, IT IS LITTLE WONDER that I became confused and lost in the

labyrinthine maze of those mighty hills. What, in reality, I did was to pass entirely through them and come

out above the valley upon the farther side. I know that I wandered for a long time, until tired and hungry I

came upon a small cave in the face of the limestone formation which had taken the place of the granite farther

The cave which took my fancy lay halfway up the precipitous side of a lofty cliff. The way to it was such that

I knew no extremely formidable beast could frequent it, nor was it large enough to make a comfortable

habitat for any but the smaller mammals or reptiles. Yet it was with the utmost caution that I crawled within

Here I found a rather large chamber, lighted by a narrow cleft in the rock above which let the sunlight filter in

in sufficient quantities partially to dispel the utter darkness which I had expected. The cave was entirely

empty, nor were there any signs of its having been recently occupied. The opening was comparatively small,

so that after considerable effort I was able to lug up a bowlder from the valley below which entirely blocked

Then I returned again to the valley for an armful of grasses and on this trip was fortunate enough to knock

over an orthopi, the diminutive horse of Pellucidar, a little animal about the size of a fox terrier, which

abounds in all parts of the inner world. Thus, with food and bedding I returned to my lair, where after a meal

of raw meat, to which I had now become quite accustomed, I dragged the bowlder before the entrance and

curled myself upon a bed of grassesa naked, primeval, cave man, as savagely primitive as my prehistoric

I awoke rested but hungry, and pushing the bowlder aside crawled out upon the little rocky shelf which was

my front porch. Before me spread a small but beautiful valley, through the center of which a clear and

sparkling river wound its way down to an inland sea, the blue waters of which were just visible between the

two mountain ranges which embraced this little paradise. The sides of the opposite hills were green with

verdure, for a great forest clothed them to the foot of the red and yellow and copper green of the towering

crags which formed their summit. The valley itself was carpeted with a luxuriant grass, while here and there

patches of wild flowers made great splashes of vivid color against the prevailing green.

Dotted over the face of the valley were little clusters of palmlike treesthree or four together as a rule.

Beneath these stood antelope, while others grazed in the open, or wandered gracefully to a nearby ford to

drink. There were several species of this beautiful animal, the most magnificent somewhat resembling the

giant eland of Africa, except that their spiral horns form a complete curve backward over their ears and then

forward again beneath them, ending in sharp and formidable points some two feet before the face and above

the eyes. In size they remind one of a pure bred Hereford bull, yet they are very agile and fast. The broad

yellow bands that stripe the dark roan of their coats made me take them for zebra when I first saw them. All

in all they are handsome animals, and added the finishing touch to the strange and lovely landscape that

I had determined to make the cave my headquarters, and with it as a base make a systematic exploration of

the surrounding country in search of the land of Sari. First I devoured the remainder of the carcass of the

orthopi I had killed before my last sleep. Then I hid the Great Secret in a deep niche at the back of my cave,

rolled the bowlder before my front door, and with bow, arrows, sword, and shield scrambled down into the

The grazing herds moved to one side as I passed through them, the little orthopi evincing the greatest

wariness and galloping to safest distances. All the animals stopped feeding as I approached, and after moving

to what they considered a safe distance stood contemplating me with serious eyes and upcocked ears. Once

one of the old bull antelopes of the striped species lowered his head and bellowed angrilyeven taking a few

steps in my direction, so that I thought he meant to charge; but after I had passed, he resumed feeding as

Near the lower end of the valley I passed a number of tapirs, and across the river saw a great sadok, the

enormous doublehorned progenitor of the modern rhinoceros. At the valley's end the cliffs upon the left ran

out into the sea, so that to pass around them as I desired to do it was necessary to scale them in search of a

ledge along which I might continue my journey. Some fifty feet from the base I came upon a projection

which formed a natural path along the face of the cliff, and this I followed out over the sea toward the cliff's

Here the ledge inclined rapidly upward toward the top of the cliffsthe stratum which formed it evidently

having been forced up at this steep angle when the mountains behind it were born. As I climbed carefully up

the ascent my attention suddenly was attracted aloft by the sound of strange hissing, and what resembled the

And at the first glance there broke upon my horrified vision the most frightful thing I had seen even within

Pellucidar. It was a giant dragon such as is pictured in the legends and fairy tales of earth folk. Its huge body

must have measured forty feet in length, while the batlike wings that supported it in midair had a spread of

fully thirty. Its gaping jaws were armed with long, sharp teeth, and its claw equipped with horrible talons.

The hissing noise which had first attracted my attention was issuing from its throat, and seemed to be directed

at something beyond and below me which I could not see. The ledge upon which I stood terminated abruptly

a few paces farther on, and as I reached the end I saw the cause of the reptile's agitation.

Some time in past ages an earthquake had produced a fault at this point, so that beyond the spot where I stood

the strata had slipped down a matter of twenty feet. The result was that the continuation of my ledge lay

twenty feet below me, where it ended as abruptly as did the end upon which I stood.

And here, evidently halted in flight by this insurmountable break in the ledge, stood the object of the

creature's attacka girl cowering upon the narrow platform, her face buried in her arms, as though to shut

The dragon was circling lower, and seemed about to dart in upon its prey. There was no time to be lost,

scarce an instant in which to weigh the possible chances that I had against the awfully armed creature; but the

sight of that frightened girl below me called out to all that was best in me, and the instinct for protection of

the other sex, which nearly must have equaled the instinct of selfpreservation in primeval man, drew me to

Almost thoughtless of the consequences, I leaped from the end of the ledge upon which I stood, for the tiny

shelf twenty feet below. At the same instant the dragon darted in toward the girl, but my sudden advent upon

the scene must have startled him for he veered to one side, and then rose above us once more.

The noise I made as I landed beside her convinced the girl that the end had come, for she thought I was the

dragon; but finally when no cruel fangs closed upon her she raised her eyes in astonishment. As they fell

upon me the expression that came into them would be difficult to describe; but her feelings could scarcely

have been one whit more complicated than my ownfor the wide eyes that looked into mine were those of

"You?" she whispered, and then she hid her face again; nor could I tell whether she were glad or angry that I

Once more the dragon was sweeping toward us, and so rapidly that I had no time to unsling my bow. All that

I could do was to snatch up a rock, and hurl it at the thing's hideous face. Again my aim was true, and with a

Quickly I fitted an arrow now that I might be ready at the next attack, and as I did so I looked down at the

girl, so that I surprised her in a surreptitious glance which she was stealing at me; but immediately, she again

"I hate you," she said, and then, as I was about to beg for a fair hearing she pointed over my shoulder. "The

So this was a thipdar. I might have known it. The cruel bloodhound of the Mahars. The longextinct

pterodactyl of the outer world. But this time I met it with a weapon it never had faced before. I had selected

my longest arrow, and with all my strength had bent the bow until the very tip of the shaft rested upon the

thumb of my left hand, and then as the great creature darted toward us I let drive straight for that tough breast.

Hissing like the escape valve of a steam engine, the mighty creature fell turning and twisting into the sea

below, my arrow buried completely in its carcass. I turned toward the girl. She was looking past me. It was

"Dian," I said, "won't you tell me that you are not sorry that I have found you?"

"I hate you," was her only reply; but I imagined that there was less vehemence in it than beforeyet it might

"What are you doing here?" I asked, "and what has happened to you since Hooja freed you from the

At first I thought that she was going to ignore me entirely, but finally she thought better of it.

"I was again running away from Jubal the Ugly One," she said. "After I escaped from the Sagoths I made my

way alone back to my own land; but on account of Jubal I did not dare enter the villages or let any of my

friends know that I had returned for fear that Jubal might find out. By watching for a long time I found that

my brother had not yet returned, and so I continued to live in a cave beside a valley which my race seldom

"But at last one of Jubal's hunters saw me as I was creeping toward my father's cave to see if my brother had

yet returned and he gave the alarm and Jubal set out after me. He has been pursuing me across many lands.

He cannot be far behind me now. When he comes he will kill you and carry me back to his cave. He is a

terrible man. I have gone as far as I can go, and there is no escape," and she looked hopelessly up at the

"But he shall not have me," she suddenly cried, with great vehemence. "The sea is there"she pointed over

"But I have you now Dian," I cried; "nor shall Jubal, nor any other have you, for you are mine," and I seized

She had risen to her feet, and was looking straight into my eyes with level gaze.

"I do not believe you," she said, "for if you meant it you would have done this when the others were present

to witness itthen I should truly have been your mate; now there is no one to see you do it, for you know

that without witnesses your act does not bind you to me," and she withdrew her hand from mine and turned

I tried to convince her that I was sincere, but she simply couldn't forget the humiliation that I had put upon

"If you mean all that you say you will have ample chance to prove it," she said, "if Jubal does not catch and

kill you. I am in your power, and the treatment you accord me will be the best proof of your intentions toward

me. I am not your mate, and again I tell you that I hate you, and that I should be glad if I never saw you

Dian certainly was candid. There was no gainsaying that. In fact I found candor and directness to be quite a

marked characteristic of the cave men of Pellucidar. Finally I suggested that we make some attempt to gain

my cave, where we might escape the searching Jubal, for I am free to admit that I had no considerable desire

to meet the formidable and ferocious creature, of whose mighty prowess Dian had told me when I first met

her. He it was who, armed with a puny knife, had met and killed a cave bear in a handtohand struggle. It

was Jubal who could cast his spear entirely through the armored carcass of the sadok at fifty paces. It was he

who had crushed the skull of a charging dyryth with a single blow of his war club. No, I was not pining to

meet the Ugly Oneand it was quite certain that I should not go out and hunt for him; but the matter was

taken out of my hands very quickly, as is often the way, and I did meet Jubal the Ugly One face to face.

This is how it happened. I had led Dian back along the ledge the way she had come, searching for a path that

would lead us to the top of the cliff, for I knew that we could then cross over to the edge of my own little

valley, where I felt certain we should find a means of ingress from the cliff top. As we proceeded along the

ledge I gave Dian minute directions for finding my cave against the chance of something happening to me. I

knew that she would be quite safely hidden away from pursuit once she gained the shelter of my lair, and the

Also, I was very much piqued by her treatment of me. My heart was sad and heavy, and I wanted to make her

feel badly by suggesting that something terrible might happen to methat I might, in fact, be killed. But it

didn't work worth a cent, at least as far as I could perceive. Dian simply shrugged those magnificent

shoulders of hers, and murmured something to the effect that one was not rid of trouble so easily as that.

For a while I kept still. I was utterly squelched. And to think that I had twice protected her from attackthe

last time risking my life to save hers. It was incredible that even a daughter of the Stone Age could be so

ungratefulso heartless; but maybe her heart partook of the qualities of her epoch.

Presently we found a rift in the cliff which had been widened and extended by the action of the water

draining through it from the plateau above. It gave us a rather rough climb to the summit, but finally we stood

upon the level mesa which stretched back for several miles to the mountain range. Behind us lay the broad

inland sea, curving upward in the horizonless distance to merge into the blue of the sky, so that for all the

world it looked as though the sea lapped back to arch completely over us and disappear beyond the distant

mountains at our backsthe weird and uncanny aspect of the seascapes of Pellucidar balk description.

At our right lay a dense forest, but to the left the country was open and clear to the plateau's farther verge. It

was in this direction that our way led, and we had turned to resume our journey when Dian touched my arm. I

turned to her, thinking that she was about to make peace overtures; but I was mistaken.

I looked, and there, emerging from the dense wood, came a perfect whale of a man. He must have been seven

feet tall, and proportioned accordingly. He still was too far off to distinguish his features.

"Run," I said to Dian. "I can engage him until you get a good start. Maybe I can hold him until you have

gotten entirely away," and then, without a backward glance, I advanced to meet the Ugly One. I had hoped

that Dian would have a kind word to say to me before she went, for she must have known that I was going to

my death for her sake; but she never even so much as bid me goodbye, and it was with a heavy heart that I

When I had come close enough to Jubal to distinguish his features I understood how it was that he had earned

the sobriquet of Ugly One. Apparently some fearful beast had ripped away one entire side of his face. The

eye was gone, the nose, and all the flesh, so that his jaws and all his teeth were exposed and grinning through

Formerly he may have been as good to look upon as the others of his handsome race, and it may be that the

terrible result of this encounter had tended to sour an already strong and brutal character. However this may

be it is quite certain that he was not a pretty sight, and now that his features, or what remained of them, were

distorted in rage at the sight of Dian with another male, he was indeed most terrible to seeand much more

He had broken into a run now, and as he advanced he raised his mighty spear, while I halted and fitting an

arrow to my bow took as steady aim as I could. I was somewhat longer than usual, for I must confess that the

sight of this awful man had wrought upon my nerves to such an extent that my knees were anything but

steady. What chance had I against this mighty warrior for whom even the fiercest cave bear had no terrors!

Could I hope to best one who slaughtered the sadok and dyryth singlehanded! I shuddered; but, in fairness to

And then the great brute launched his massive stonetipped spear, and I raised my shield to break the force of

its terrific velocity. The impact hurled me to my knees, but the shield had deflected the missile and I was

unscathed. Jubal was rushing upon me now with the only remaining weapon that he carrieda

murderouslooking knife. He was too close for a careful bowshot, but I let drive at him as he came, without

taking aim. My arrow pierced the fleshy part of his thigh, inflicting a painful but not disabling wound. And

My agility saved me for the instant. I ducked beneath his raised arm, and when he wheeled to come at me

again he found a sword's point in his face. And a moment later he felt an inch or two of it in the muscles of

It was a duel of strategy nowthe great, hairy man maneuvering to get inside my guard where he could

bring those giant thews to play, while my wits were directed to the task of keeping him at arm's length. Thrice

he rushed me, and thrice I caught his knife blow upon my shield. Each time my sword found his bodyonce

penetrating to his lung. He was covered with blood by this time, and the internal hemorrhage induced

paroxysms of coughing that brought the red stream through the hideous mouth and nose, covering his face

and breast with bloody froth. He was a most unlovely spectacle, but he was far from dead.

As the duel continued I began to gain confidence, for, to be perfectly candid, I had not expected to survive the

first rush of that monstrous engine of ungoverned rage and hatred. And I think that Jubal, from utter contempt

of me, began to change to a feeling of respect, and then in his primitive mind there evidently loomed the

At any rate it is only upon this hypothesis that I can account for his next act, which was in the nature of a last

resorta sort of forlorn hope, which could only have been born of the belief that if he did not kill me quickly

I should kill him. It happened on the occasion of his fourth charge, when, instead of striking at me with his

knife, he dropped that weapon, and seizing my sword blade in both his hands wrenched the weapon from my

Flinging it far to one side he stood motionless for just an instant glaring into my face with such a horrid leer

of malignant triumph as to almost unnerve methen he sprang for me with his bare hands. But it was Jubal's

day to learn new methods of warfare. For the first time he had seen a bow and arrows, never before that duel

had he beheld a sword, and now he learned what a man who knows may do with his bare fists.

As he came for me, like a great bear, I ducked again beneath his outstretched arm, and as I came up planted

as clean a blow upon his jaw as ever you have seen. Down went that great mountain of flesh sprawling upon

the ground. He was so surprised and dazed that he lay there for several seconds before he made any attempt

to rise, and I stood over him with another dose ready when he should gain his knees.

Up he came at last, almost roaring in his rage and mortification; but he didn't stay upI let him have a left

fair on the point of the jaw that sent him tumbling over on his back. By this time I think Jubal had gone mad

with hate, for no sane man would have come back for more as many times as he did. Time after time I

bowled him over as fast as he could stagger up, until toward the last he lay longer on the ground between

He was bleeding very profusely now from the wound in his lungs, and presently a terrific blow over the heart

sent him reeling heavily to the ground, where he lay very still, and somehow I knew at once that Jubal the

Ugly One would never get up again. But even as I looked upon that massive body lying there so grim and

terrible in death, I could not believe that I, singlehanded, had bested this slayer of fearful beaststhis

Picking up my sword I leaned upon it, looking down on the dead body of my foeman, and as I thought of the

battle I had just fought and won a great idea was born in my brainthe outcome of this and the suggestion

that Perry had made within the city of Phutra. If skill and science could render a comparative pygmy the

master of this mighty brute, what could not the brute's fellows accomplish with the same skill and science.

Why all Pellucidar would be at their feetand I would be their king and Dian their queen.

Dian! A little wave of doubt swept over me. It was quite within the possibilities of Dian to look down upon

me even were I king. She was quite the most superior person I ever had metwith the most convincing way

of letting you know that she was superior. Well, I could go to the cave, and tell her that I had killed Jubal, and

then she might feel more kindly toward me, since I had freed her of her tormentor. I hoped that she had found

the cave easilyit would be terrible had I lost her again, and I turned to gather up my shield and bow to

hurry after her, when to my astonishment I found her standing not ten paces behind me.

"Girl!" I cried, "what are you doing here? I thought that you had gone to the cave, as I told you to do."

Up went her head, and the look that she gave me took all the majesty out of me, and left me feeling more like

"As you told me to do!" she cried, stamping her little foot. "I do as I please. I am the daughter of a king, and

I was dumbfoundedthis was my thanks for saving her from Jubal! I turned and looked at the corpse. "May

be that I saved you from a worse fate, old man," I said, but I guess it was lost on Dian, for she never seemed

She followed along a pace behind me, neither of us speaking. I was too angry, and she evidently didn't care to

converse with the lower orders. I was mad all the way through, as I had certainly felt that at least a word of

thanks should have rewarded me, for I knew that even by her own standards, I must have done a very

We had no difficulty in finding my lair, and then I went down into the valley and bowled over a small

antelope, which I dragged up the steep ascent to the ledge before the door. Here we ate in silence.

Occasionally I glanced at her, thinking that the sight of her tearing at raw flesh with her hands and teeth like

some wild animal would cause a revulsion of my sentiments toward her; but to my surprise I found that she

ate quite as daintily as the most civilized woman of my acquaintance, and finally I found myself gazing in

After our repast we went down to the river together and bathed our hands and faces, and then after drinking

our fill went back to the cave. Without a word I crawled into the farthest corner and, curling up, was soon

When I awoke I found Dian sitting in the doorway looking out across the valley. As I came out she moved to

one side to let me pass, but she had no word for me. I wanted to hate her, but I couldn't. Every time I looked

at her something came up in my throat, so that I nearly choked. I had never been in love before, but I did not

need any aid in diagnosing my caseI certainly had it and had it bad. God, how I loved that beautiful,

After we had eaten again I asked Dian if she intended returning to her tribe now that Jubal was dead, but she

shook her head sadly, and said that she did not dare, for there was still Jubal's brother to be consideredhis

"What has he to do with it?" I asked. "Does he too want you, or has the option on you become a family

"It is probable," she said, "that they all will want revenge for the death of Jubalthere are seven of

themseven terrible men. Someone may have to kill them all, if I am to return to my people."

It began to look as though I had assumed a contract much too large for meabout seven sizes, in fact.

"Had Jubal any cousins?" I asked. It was just as well to know the worst at once.

"Yes," replied Dian, "but they don't countthey all have mates. Jubal's brothers have no mates because Jubal

could get none for himself. He was so ugly that women ran away from himsome have even thrown

themselves from the cliffs of Amoz into the Darel Az rather than mate with the Ugly One."

"I forget that you are not of Pellucidar," said Dian, with a look of pity mixed with contempt, and the contempt

seemed to be laid on a little thicker than the circumstance warrantedas though to make quite certain that I

shouldn't overlook it. "You see," she continued, "a younger brother may not take a mate until all his older

brothers have done so, unless the older brother waives his prerogative, which Jubal would not do, knowing

that as long as he kept them single they would be all the keener in aiding him to secure a mate."

Noticing that Dian was becoming more communicative I began to entertain hopes that she might be warming

up toward me a bit, although upon what slender thread I hung my hopes I soon discovered.

"As you dare not return to Amoz," I ventured, "what is to become of you since you cannot be happy here with

"I shall have to put up with you," she replied coldly, "until you see fit to go elsewhere and leave me in peace,

I looked at her in utter amazement. It seemed incredible that even a prehistoric woman could be so cold and

"I shall leave you NOW," I said haughtily, "I have had quite enough of your ingratitude and your insults," and

then I turned and strode majestically down toward the valley. I had taken a hundred steps in absolute silence,

I was absolutely miserable, but I hadn't gone too far when I began to realize that I couldn't leave her alone

there without protection, to hunt her own food amid the dangers of that savage world. She might hate me, and

revile me, and heap indignity after indignity upon me, as she already had, until I should have hated her; but

the pitiful fact remained that I loved her, and I couldn't leave her there alone.

The more I thought about it the madder I got, so that by the time I reached the valley I was furious, and the

result of it was that I turned right around and went up that cliff again as fast as I had come down. I saw that

Dian had left the ledge and gone within the cave, but I bolted right in after her. She was lying upon her face

on the pile of grasses I had gathered for her bed. When she heard me enter she sprang to her feet like a

Coming from the brilliant light of the noonday sun into the semidarkness of the cave I could not see her

features, and I was rather glad, for I disliked to think of the hate that I should have read there.

I never said a word to her at first. I just strode across the cave and grasped her by the wrists, and when she

struggled, I put my arm around her so as to pinion her hands to her sides. She fought like a tigress, but I took

my free hand and pushed her head backI imagine that I had suddenly turned brute, that I had gone back a

thousand million years, and was again a veritable cave man taking my mate by forceand then I kissed that

"Dian," I cried, shaking her roughly, "I love you. Can't you understand that I love you? That I love you better

than all else in this world or my own? That I am going to have you? That love like mine cannot be denied?"

I noticed that she lay very still in my arms now, and as my eyes became accustomed to the light I saw that she

was smilinga very contented, happy smile. I was thunderstruck. Then I realized that, very gently, she was

trying to disengage her arms, and I loosened my grip upon them so that she could do so. Slowly they came up

and stole about my neck, and then she drew my lips down to hers once more and held them there for a long

"Did you expect me to run into your arms, and say that I loved you before I knew that you loved me?" she

"But I have told you right along that I love you," I said. "Love speaks in acts," she replied. "You could have

made your mouth say what you wished it to say, but just now when you came and took me in your arms your

heart spoke to mine in the language that a woman's heart understands. What a silly man you are, David?"

"I have loved you always," she whispered, "from the first moment that I saw you, although I did not know it

"But I didn't spurn you, dear," I cried. "I didn't know your waysI doubt if I do now. It seems incredible that

"You might have known," she said, "when I did not run away from you that it was not hate which chained me

to you. While you were battling with Jubal, I could have run to the edge of the forest, and when I learned the

outcome of the combat it would have been a simple thing to have eluded you and returned to my own

"I had to tell you SOMETHING, David," she whispered. "I must needs have SOME excuse for remaining

"You little sinner!" I exclaimed. "And you have caused me all this anguish for nothing!"

"I have suffered even more," she answered simply, "for I thought that you did not love me, and I was

helpless. I couldn't come to you and demand that my love be returned, as you have just come to me. Just now

when you went away hope went with you. I was wretched, terrified, miserable, and my heart was breaking. I

wept, and I have not done that before since my mother died," and now I saw that there was the moisture of

tears about her eyes. It was near to making me cry myself when I thought of all that poor child had been

through. Motherless and unprotected; hunted across a savage, primeval world by that hideous brute of a man;

exposed to the attacks of the countless fearsome denizens of its mountains, its plains, and its junglesit was

To me it was a revelation of the things my early forebears must have endured that the human race of the outer

crust might survive. It made me very proud to think that I had won the love of such a woman. Of course she

couldn't read or write; there was nothing cultured or refined about her as you judge culture and refinement;

but she was the essence of all that is best in woman, for she was good, and brave, and noble, and virtuous.

And she was all these things in spite of the fact that their observance entailed suffering and danger and

How much easier it would have been to have gone to Jubal in the first place! She would have been his lawful

mate. She would have been queen in her own landand it meant just as much to the cave woman to be a

queen in the Stone Age as it does to the woman of today to be a queen now; it's all comparative glory any

way you look at it, and if there were only halfnaked savages on the outer crust today, you'd find that it

I couldn't help but compare Dian's action with that of a splendid young woman I had known in New YorkI

mean splendid to look at and to talk to. She had been head over heels in love with a chum of minea clean,

manly chapbut she had married a brokendown, disreputable old debauchee because he was a count in

some dinky little European principality that was not even accorded a distinctive color by Rand McNally.

After a time we decided to set out for Sari, as I was anxious to see Perry, and to know that all was right with

him. I had told Dian about our plan of emancipating the human race of Pellucidar, and she was fairly wild

over it. She said that if Dacor, her brother, would only return he could easily be king of Amoz, and that then

he and Ghak could form an alliance. That would give us a flying start, for the Sarians and the Amozites were

both very powerful tribes. Once they had been armed with swords, and bows and arrows, and trained in their

use we were confident that they could overcome any tribe that seemed disinclined to join the great army of

I explained the various destructive engines of war which Perry and I could construct after a little

experimentationgunpowder, rifles, cannon, and the like, and Dian would clap her hands, and throw her

arms about my neck, and tell me what a wonderful thing I was. She was beginning to think that I was

omnipotent although I really hadn't done anything but talkbut that is the way with women when they love.

Perry used to say that if a fellow was onetenth as remarkable as his wife or mother thought him, he would

The first time we started for Sari I stepped into a nest of poisonous vipers before we reached the valley. A

little fellow stung me on the ankle, and Dian made me come back to the cave. She said that I mustn't exercise,

or it might prove fatalif it had been a fullgrown snake that struck me she said, I wouldn't have moved a

single pace from the nestI'd have died in my tracks, so virulent is the poison. As it was I must have been

laid up for quite a while, though Dian's poultices of herbs and leaves finally reduced the swelling and drew

The episode proved most fortunate, however, as it gave me an idea which added a thousandfold to the value

of my arrows as missiles of offense and defense. As soon as I was able to be about again, I sought out some

adult vipers of the species which had stung me, and having killed them, I extracted their virus, smearing it

upon the tips of several arrows. Later I shot a hyaenodon with one of these, and though my arrow inflicted

but a superficial flesh wound the beast crumpled in death almost immediately after he was hit.

We now set out once more for the land of the Sarians, and it was with feelings of sincere regret that we bade

goodbye to our beautiful Garden of Eden, in the comparative peace and harmony of which we had lived the

happiest moments of our lives. How long we had been there I did not know, for as I have told you, time had

ceased to exist for me beneath that eternal noonday sunit may have been an hour, or a month of earthly

WE CROSSED THE RIVER AND PASSED THROUGH THE mountains beyond, and finally we came out

upon a great level plain which stretched away as far as the eye could reach. I cannot tell you in what direction

it stretched even if you would care to know, for all the while that I was within Pellucidar I never discovered

any but local methods of indicating directionthere is no north, no south, no east, no west. UP is about the

only direction which is well defined, and that, of course, is DOWN to you of the outer crust. Since the sun

neither rises nor sets there is no method of indicating direction beyond visible objects such as high

The plain which lies beyond the white cliffs which flank the Darel Az upon the shore nearest the Mountains

of the Clouds is about as near to any direction as any Pellucidarian can come. If you happen not to have heard

of the Darel Az, or the white cliffs, or the Mountains of the Clouds you feel that there is something lacking,

and long for the good old understandable northeast and southwest of the outer world.

We had barely entered the great plain when we discovered two enormous animals approaching us from a

great distance. So far were they that we could not distinguish what manner of beasts they might be, but as

they came closer, I saw that they were enormous quadrupeds, eighty or a hundred feet long, with tiny heads

perched at the top of very long necks. Their heads must have been quite forty feet from the ground. The

beasts moved very slowlythat is their action was slowbut their strides covered such a great distance that

As they drew still nearer we discovered that upon the back of each sat a human being. Then Dian knew what

"They are lidis from the land of the Thorians," she cried. "Thoria lies at the outer verge of the Land of Awful

Shadow. The Thorians alone of all the races of Pellucidar ride the lidi, for nowhere else than beside the dark

"It is the land which lies beneath the Dead World," replied Dian; "the Dead World which hangs forever

between the sun and Pellucidar above the Land of Awful Shadow. It is the Dead World which makes the

I did not fully understand what she meant, nor am I sure that I do yet, for I have never been to that part of

Pellucidar from which the Dead World is visible; but Perry says that it is the moon of Pellucidara tiny

planet within a planetand that it revolves around the earth's axis coincidently with the earth, and thus is

I remember that Perry was very much excited when I told him about this Dead World, for he seemed to think

that it explained the hitherto inexplicable phenomena of nutation and the precession of the equinoxes.

When the two upon the lidis had come quite close to us we saw that one was a man and the other a woman.

The former had held up his two hands, palms toward us, in sign of peace, and I had answered him in kind,

when he suddenly gave a cry of astonishment and pleasure, and slipping from his enormous mount ran

In an instant I was white with jealousy, but only for an instant; since Dian quickly drew the man toward me,

It appeared that the woman was Dacor's mate. He had found none to his liking among the Sari, nor farther on

until he had come to the land of the Thoria, and there he had found and fought for this very lovely Thorian

When they had heard our story and our plans they decided to accompany us to Sari, that Dacor and Ghak

might come to an agreement relative to an alliance, as Dacor was quite as enthusiastic about the proposed

After a journey which was, for Pellucidar, quite uneventful, we came to the first of the Sarian villages which

consists of between one and two hundred artificial caves cut into the face of a great cliff. Here to our

immense delight, we found both Perry and Ghak. The old man was quite overcome at sight of me for he had

When I introduced Dian as my wife, he didn't quite know what to say, but he afterward remarked that with

Ghak and Dacor reached a very amicable arrangement, and it was at a council of the head men of the various

tribes of the Sari that the eventual form of government was tentatively agreed upon. Roughly, the various

kingdoms were to remain virtually independent, but there was to be one great overlord, or emperor. It was

decided that I should be the first of the dynasty of the emperors of Pellucidar.

We set about teaching the women how to make bows and arrows, and poison pouches. The young men

hunted the vipers which provided the virus, and it was they who mined the iron ore, and fashioned the swords

under Perry's direction. Rapidly the fever spread from one tribe to another until representatives from nations

so far distant that the Sarians had never even heard of them came in to take the oath of allegiance which we

We sent our young men out as instructors to every nation of the federation, and the movement had reached

colossal proportions before the Mahars discovered it. The first intimation they had was when three of their

great slave caravans were annihilated in rapid succession. They could not comprehend that the lower orders

In one of the skirmishes with slave caravans some of our Sarians took a number of Sagoth prisoners, and

among them were two who had been members of the guards within the building where we had been confined

at Phutra. They told us that the Mahars were frantic with rage when they discovered what had taken place in

the cellars of the buildings. The Sagoths knew that something very terrible had befallen their masters, but the

Mahars had been most careful to see that no inkling of the true nature of their vital affliction reached beyond

their own race. How long it would take for the race to become extinct it was impossible even to guess; but

The Mahars had offered fabulous rewards for the capture of any one of us alive, and at the same time had

threatened to inflict the direst punishment upon whomever should harm us. The Sagoths could not understand

these seemingly paradoxical instructions, though their purpose was quite evident to me. The Mahars wanted

Perry's experiments in the manufacture of gunpowder and the fashioning of rifles had not progressed as

rapidly as we had hopedthere was a whole lot about these two arts which Perry didn't know. We were both

assured that the solution of these problems would advance the cause of civilization within Pellucidar

thousands of years at a single stroke. Then there were various other arts and sciences which we wished to

introduce, but our combined knowledge of them did not embrace the mechanical details which alone could

"David," said Perry, immediately after his latest failure to produce gunpowder that would even burn, "one of

us must return to the outer world and bring back the information we lack. Here we have all the labor and

materials for reproducing anything that ever has been produced abovewhat we lack is knowledge. Let us

go back and get that knowledge in the shape of booksthen this world will indeed be at our feet."

And so it was decided that I should return in the prospector, which still lay upon the edge of the forest at the

point where we had first penetrated to the surface of the inner world. Dian would not listen to any

arrangement for my going which did not include her, and I was not sorry that she wished to accompany me,

With a large force of men we marched to the great iron mole, which Perry soon had hoisted into position with

its nose pointed back toward the outer crust. He went over all the machinery carefully. He replenished the air

tanks, and manufactured oil for the engine. At last everything was ready, and we were about to set out when

our pickets, a long, thin line of which had surrounded our camp at all times, reported that a great body of

what appeared to be Sagoths and Mahars were approaching from the direction of Phutra.

Dian and I were ready to embark, but I was anxious to witness the first clash between two fairsized armies

of the opposing races of Pellucidar. I realized that this was to mark the historic beginning of a mighty

struggle for possession of a world, and as the first emperor of Pellucidar I felt that it was not alone my duty,

As the opposing army approached we saw that there were many Mahars with the Sagoth troopsan

indication of the vast importance which the dominant race placed upon the outcome of this campaign, for it

was not customary with them to take active part in the sorties which their creatures made for slavesthe

Ghak and Dacor were both with us, having come primarily to view the prospector. I placed Ghak with some

of his Sarians on the right of our battle line. Dacor took the left, while I commanded the center. Behind us I

stationed a sufficient reserve under one of Ghak's head men. The Sagoths advanced steadily with menacing

spears, and I let them come until they were within easy bowshot before I gave the word to fire.

At the first volley of poisontipped arrows the front ranks of the gorillamen crumpled to the ground; but

those behind charged over the prostrate forms of their comrades in a wild, mad rush to be upon us with their

spears. A second volley stopped them for an instant, and then my reserve sprang through the openings in the

firing line to engage them with sword and shield. The clumsy spears of the Sagoths were no match for the

swords of the Sarian and Amozite, who turned the spear thrusts aside with their shields and leaped to close

Ghak took his archers along the enemy's flank, and while the swordsmen engaged them in front, he poured

volley after volley into their unprotected left. The Mahars did little real fighting, and were more in the way

than otherwise, though occasionally one of them would fasten its powerful jaw upon the arm or leg of a

The battle did not last a great while, for when Dacor and I led our men in upon the Sagoth's right with naked

swords they were already so demoralized that they turned and fled before us. We pursued them for some

time, taking many prisoners and recovering nearly a hundred slaves, among whom was Hooja the Sly One.

He told me that he had been captured while on his way to his own land; but that his life had been spared in

hope that through him the Mahars would learn the whereabouts of their Great Secret. Ghak and I were

inclined to think that the Sly One had been guiding this expedition to the land of Sari, where he thought that

the book might be found in Perry's possession; but we had no proof of this and so we took him in and treated

him as one of us, although none liked him. And how he rewarded my generosity you will presently learn.

There were a number of Mahars among our prisoners, and so fearful were our own people of them that they

would not approach them unless completely covered from the sight of the reptiles by a piece of skin. Even

Dian shared the popular superstition regarding the evil effects of exposure to the eyes of angry Mahars, and

though I laughed at her fears I was willing enough to humor them if it would relieve her apprehension in any

degree, and so she sat apart from the prospector, near which the Mahars had been chained, while Perry and I

At last I took my place in the driving seat, and called to one of the men without to fetch Dian. It happened

that Hooja stood quite close to the doorway of the prospector, so that it was he who, without my knowledge,

went to bring her; but how he succeeded in accomplishing the fiendish thing he did, I cannot guess, unless

there were others in the plot to aid him. Nor can I believe that, since all my people were loyal to me and

would have made short work of Hooja had he suggested the heartless scheme, even had he had time to

acquaint another with it. It was all done so quickly that I may only believe that it was the result of sudden

impulse, aided by a number of, to Hooja, fortuitous circumstances occurring at precisely the right moment.

All I know is that it was Hooja who brought Dian to the prospector, still wrapped from head to toe in the skin

of an enormous cave lion which covered her since the Mahar prisoners had been brought into camp. He

deposited his burden in the seat beside me. I was all ready to get under way. The goodbyes had been said.

Perry had grasped my hand in the last, long farewell. I closed and barred the outer and inner doors, took my

As before on that fargone night that had witnessed our first trial of the iron monster, there was a frightful

roaring beneath usthe giant frame trembled and vibrated there was a rush of sound as the loose earth

passed up through the hollow space between the inner and outer jackets to be deposited in our wake. Once

But on the instant of departure I was nearly thrown from my seat by the sudden lurching of the prospector. At

first I did not realize what had happened, but presently it dawned upon me that just before entering the crust

the towering body had fallen through its supporting scaffolding, and that instead of entering the ground

vertically we were plunging into it at a different angle. Where it would bring us out upon the upper crust I

could not even conjecture. And then I turned to note the effect of this strange experience upon Dian. She still

"Come, come," I cried, laughing, "come out of your shell. No Mahar eyes can reach you here," and I leaned

over and snatched the lion skin from her. And then I shrank back upon my seat in utter horror.

The thing beneath the skin was not Dianit was a hideous Mahar. Instantly I realized the trick that Hooja

had played upon me, and the purpose of it. Rid of me, forever as he doubtless thought, Dian would be at his

mercy. Frantically I tore at the steering wheel in an effort to turn the prospector back toward Pellucidar; but,

It is needless to recount the horrors or the monotony of that journey. It varied but little from the former one

which had brought us from the outer to the inner world. Because of the angle at which we had entered the

ground the trip required nearly a day longer, and brought me out here upon the sand of the Sahara instead of

For months I have been waiting here for a white man to come. I dared not leave the prospector for fear I

should never be able to find it againthe shifting sands of the desert would soon cover it, and then my only

That I ever shall see her again seems but remotely possible, for how may I know upon what part of Pellucidar

my return journey may terminateand how, without a north or south or an east or a west may I hope ever to

find my way across that vast world to the tiny spot where my lost love lies grieving for me?

That is the story as David Innes told it to me in the goatskin tent upon the rim of the great Sahara Desert.

The next day he took me out to see the prospectorit was precisely as he had described it. So huge was it

that it could have been brought to this inaccessible part of the world by no means of transportation that

existed thereit could only have come in the way that David Innes said it cameup through the crust of the

I spent a week with him, and then, abandoned my lion hunt, returned directly to the coast and hurried to

London where I purchased a great quantity of stuff which he wished to take back to Pellucidar with him.

There were books, rifles, revolvers, ammunition, cameras, chemicals, telephones, telegraph instruments, wire,

tool and more booksbooks upon every subject under the sun. He said he wanted a library with which they

could reproduce the wonders of the twentieth century in the Stone Age and if quantity counts for anything I

I took the things back to Algeria myself, and accompanied them to the end of the railroad; but from here I

was recalled to America upon important business. However, I was able to employ a very trustworthy man to

take charge of the caravanthe same guide, in fact, who had accompanied me on the previous trip into the

Saharaand after writing a long letter to Innes in which I gave him my American address, I saw the

Among the other things which I sent to Innes was over five hundred miles of double, insulated wire of a very

fine gauge. I had it packed on a special reel at his suggestion, as it was his idea that he could fasten one end

here before he left and by paying it out through the end of the prospector lay a telegraph line between the

outer and inner worlds. In my letter I told him to be sure to mark the terminus of the line very plainly with a

high cairn, in case I was not able to reach him before he set out, so that I might easily find and communicate

I received several letters from him after I returned to Americain fact he took advantage of every

northwardpassing caravan to drop me word of some sort. His last letter was written the day before he

Tomorrow I shall set out in quest of Pellucidar and Dian. That is if the Arabs don't get me. They have been

very nasty of late. I don't know the cause, but on two occasions they have threatened my life. One, more

friendly than the rest, told me today that they intended attacking me tonight. It would be unfortunate should

However, maybe I will be as well off, for the nearer the hour approaches, the slenderer my chances for

Here is the friendly Arab who is to take this letter north for me, so goodbye, and God bless you for your

The Arab tells me to hurry, for he sees a cloud of sand to the southhe thinks it is the party coming to

A year later found me at the end of the railroad once more, headed for the spot where I had left Innes. My

first disappointment was when I discovered that my old guide had died within a few weeks of my return, nor

For months I searched that scorching land, interviewing countless desert sheiks in the hope that at last I might

find one who had heard of Innes and his wonderful iron mole. Constantly my eyes scanned the blinding waste

of sand for the ricky cairn beneath which I was to find the wires leading to Pellucidarbut always was I

And always do these awful questions harass me when I think of David Innes and his strange adventures.

Did the Arabs murder him, after all, just on the eve of his departure? Or, did he again turn the nose of his iron

monster toward the inner world? Did he reach it, or lies he somewhere buried in the heart of the great crust?

And if he did come again to Pellucidar was it to break through into the bottom of one of her great island seas,

Does the answer lie somewhere upon the bosom of the broad Sahara, at the end of two tiny wires, hidden